Transboundary freshwater dispute resolution : theory, practice, and annotated references /

Intended to fill the void between theoretical analyses of water disputes that attempt to discern institutional and behavioral explanations for their causes, and analyses from which it is difficult to generalize, this is a welcome volume. Distilled from a report initiated by World Bank and other NGO experts, the treatment is somewhat "broad-brush" and succinct. Hence, it fails to distill what is known about effective river basin planning aimed at integrating land use, economic development, and environmental protection in order to prevent such conflicts from arising in the first place. A better source for this is Malcom David Newson's Land, Water and Development: Sustainable Management of River Basin Systems (1997), which features an equally comprehensive literature review. Nevertheless, few can disagree with the authors' premise: disputes based on water scarcity escalate when the issue is "not addressed in a timely manner." This volume will be useful to water resource professionals interested in the lessons of previous disputes because of the synopses of important treaties and literature. The case studies will be invaluable to students unfamiliar with why transboundary water disputes constitute a growing example of the intractability of global resource conflict. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above. D. L. Feldman; University of Tennessee, Knoxville