International Water Law

8/13/2019 International Water Law

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INTERNATIONAL

WATER LAW

OLEH:

MUHAMMAD AZHARI NOOR, M.Eng.


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WATERLAW,

DEALIN

G

WITH


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WATER LAW

Water law is the field of law dealing with the ownership,control, and use of water as a resource. It is most closely

related to property law, but has also become influenced by

environmental law. Because water is vital to living things and

to a variety of economic activities, laws attempting to governit have far-reaching effects.


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HISTORY RELATED TO

WATER REGULATED PHASE

The history of people's relation towater illustrates varied

approaches to the management

of water resources. "Lipit Ishtar and Ur Nammu both

contain water provisions, pre-

date Hammurabi by at least 250

years, and clearly provide the

normative underpinnings on

which the Hammurabi Code was

constructed" .


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HISTORY RELATED TO


The Etruscans had a deep knowledge of hydrology andhydraulics, a knowledge which they put to good use in their

many land drainage schemes. The lower lying portions of

Rome such as the area between the Capitol and Velia was

formerly marshland. Settlement of the low-lying groundwould never have been a possibility without the hydraulic

engineering skills of the Etruscans. This took place around 625

BCE when, according to archaeological evidence a network of

drainage channels was dug through the marshy ground, and

at the same time, the stream that separated the two hills of

the Capitoline and Palatine was regulated, its embankments

were strengthened, and it was finally covered over.


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HISTORY RELATED TO


Without enclosure and drainage, more than half of theareaof the present-day Netherlandswould be flooded with

every high tide, every wet season, or permanently. The

struggle for the country's survival has largely determined

its appearance and left numerous marks on it.


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HISTORY RELATED TO


In the triangle between the cities of Amsterdam,

Haarlem and Leiden the 45,000-acre (180 km2)

Haarlemmermeer polder demonstrates an

extraordinary step in the scale of land drainage. Aftercenturies of preliminaries, a lake of unprecedented size

was drained in three years (18491852) and

transformed into valuable agricultural land.


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The Aswan High Dam captures floodwater during rainyseasons and releases the water during times of drought. Thedam also generates more than 10 billion kilowatt-hoursevery year. The project prevents the natural silting processwhich enriched Egyptian agriculture and farmers must nowuse about one million tons of artificial fertilizer as asubstitute for natural nutrients that once fertilized the now

arid floodplain.

HISTORY RELATED TO



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DIFFICULTIES IN WATER RIGHTS

Water has unique features that make it difficult toregulate using laws designed mainly for land.

Water is mobile, its supply varies by year and

season as well as location, and it can be used

simultaneously by many users.

As with property (land) law, water rights can be

described as a "bundle of sticks" containing

multiple, separable activities that can have varying

levels of regulation.


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DIFFICULTIES IN WATER RIGHTS

There are several types of conflict likely to arise:

1. absolute shortages;2. shortages in a particular time or place;

3. diversions of water that reduce the flow available to others;

4. pollutants or other changes (such as temperature or turbidity)

that render water unfit for others' use;5. and the need to maintain "in-stream flows" of water to protect

the natural ecosystem.


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DIFFICULTIES IN WATER RIGHTS One theory of history, put forward in the influential book Oriental Despotism,

holds that many empires were organized around a central authority that

controlled a population through monopolizing the water supply. Such ahydraulic empire creates the potential for despotism, and serves as acautionary tale for designing water regulations.

Water law involves controversy in some parts of the world where a growingpopulation faces increasing competition over a limited natural supply.

Disputes over rivers, lakes and underground aquifers cross national borders.

Although water law is still regulated mainly by individual countries, there areinternational sets of proposed rules such as the Helsinki Rules on the Uses ofthe Waters of International Rivers and the Hague Declaration on Water Securityin the 21st Century .

Long-term issues in water law include the possible effects of global warming onrainfall patterns and evaporation; the availability and cost of desalination

technology; the control of pollution, and the growth of aquaculture.


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CANADA WATER LAW

Under the Constitution Act, 1867, jurisdiction over waterways is dividedbetween the federal and provincial governments. Federal jurisdiction is derived

from the powers to regulate navigation and shipping, fisheries, and the

governing of the northern territories, which has resulted in the passage of:

1. the Fisheries Act,

2. the Navigable Waters Protection Act,

3. theArctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, and

4. the Oceans Act.

Provincial jurisdiction is derived from the powers over property and civil

rights, matters of a local and private nature, and management of Crownlands.

In Ontario, Quebec and other provinces, the beds of all navigable waters are

vested in the Crown, in contrast to English law.

All provincial governments also govern water quality through laws on

environmental protection and drinking water, such as the Clean Water Act inOntario.


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AUSIE AND TASMANIA

Australia

Water law in Australia varies witheach state.

TasmaniaA newly formed Tasmanian WaterCorporation has compulsorilyacquired all drinking water supplyinfrastructure without paymentand does not have directaccountability


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USA WATER LAWMain article: Water law in the United States

In the United States there are complex legal systems for

allocating water rights that vary by region. These varying

systems exist for both historical and geographic reasons.

Water law encompasses a broad array of subjects or

categories designed to provide a framework to resolve

disputes and policy issues relating to water:

1. Public waters, including tidal waters and navigable

waterways.

2. Other surface watersgenerally water that flows

across non-public land from rain, floodwaters, andsnowmelt before those waters reach public

watercourses.

3. Groundwater, sometimes called subterranean,

percolating, or underground water


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USA WATER LAW4. Public regulation of waters, including flood control,

environmental regulationstate and federal, public

health regulation and regulation of fisheries

5. Related to all of the above is interplay of public and

private rights inwater, which draws on aspects of

eminent domain law and the federal commerce clause

powers6. Water project law: the highly developed law regarding

the formation, operation, and finance of public and

quasi-public entities which operate local public works

of flood control, navigation control, irrigation, andavoidance of environmental degradation


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USA WATER LAWTreaty Rights of Native Americans

The law governing these topics comes from all layers of

law. Some derives from common law principles which

have developed over centuries, and which evolve as the

nature of disputes presented to courts change.

For example, the judicial approach to landowner rights to

divert surface waters has changed significantly in the lastcentury as public attitudes about land and water have

evolved.

Some derives from state statutory law. Some derives

from the original public grants of land to the States andfrom the documents of their origination. Some derives

from state, federal and local regulation of waters through

zoning, public health and other regulation. Non-federally

recognized Indian tribes do not have water rights


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EUROPA UNION WATER LAW

Water law in the European Union

For countries within the European Union, water-relateddirectives are important for water resource managementand environmental and water quality standards.

Key directives include the Urban Waste Water Directive 1992requiring most towns and cities to treat their wastewater tospecified standards,

and the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC,

which requires water resource plans based on river basins,

including public participation based on Aarhus Conventionprinciples


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SELESAI

International Water Law

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