43 / 336
[
] 43
T
ransboundary
W
ater
M
anagement
provides impulse or motivation and causes a particular phenom-
enon to happen or develop. A factor is a circumstance, fact or
influence that actively contributes to the production of a result.
Therefore, in the context of cooperation, an enabling factor is a
circumstance, fact or influence that actively contributes to the
occurrence of a cooperative event or cooperative interactions.
Distinguishing the terms in this manner makes clear that much
attention has gone to analysing and/or hypothesising about
various drivers such as power asymmetries, benefit sharing and
costs of non-cooperation. Yet very few researchers have moved
towards concretizing elements leading to cooperative action by
characterizing them as factors, as defined here. Therefore, we
asked, what are the enabling factors or the ‘ingredients’ in a
recipe for cooperation?
A multi-step analysis was conducted to identify the enabling
factors for transboundary aquifer cooperation. There were 19
cases used to identify the enabling factors. The objective of the
case analysis was to provide as complete a picture as possible
of the circumstances that lead countries to cooper-
ate over international aquifers. It was determined
that a bottom-up approach was necessary given that
enabling factors are most often characterized by
concrete, on-the-ground actions. Therefore, each
case was assembled and the conditions that spurred
cooperation were assessed.
Analysis of the cases shows that cooperation occurs
across a wide range of hydrogeological, geographi-
cal, socioeconomic and political contexts. There are
instances of cooperation over all types of aquifers
including unconfined, confined, confined fossil and
semi-confined, as well as two in karst formations. The
aquifers vary greatly in terms of geologic extent with
the smallest covering 19 km
2
and the largest covering
2,199,000 km
2
. Hydrogeological conditions also vary
greatly. In some instances, the aquifers face emergent
challenges of severe contamination or over-exploita-
Enabling factor
(number of aquifers where present)
Existing legal mechanisms (10)
Existing regional institutions (16)
Funding mechanisms (12)
High institutional capacity (8)
Previous water cooperation (15)
Scientific research (7)
Strong political will (8)
Third-party involvement (8)
Description
Includes both binding and non-binding legal
mechanisms, which place specific obligations on
aquifer states.
Involves an institution charged with promoting
cooperation and coordination on issues of regional
importance. Institution demonstrates some specific
focus on groundwater.
Either the aquifer states or a third party provided
the funding for a joint project or institution.
Organizations with the aquifer demonstrate the
ability to deal with groundwater governance
issues related to monitoring, modelling and/or
management.
Involves past interactions regarding water resources
between at least two of the aquifer states.
Research is conducted specifically for the assessment
of transboundary impacts. Research provides
significant new information to the aquifer states.
High-ranking government official(s) indicated
the prioritization of groundwater management
in the aquifer.
There were significant contributions to cooperation
from entities outside of the aquifer states’
governments.
Patterns of influence
• Highly influential in North America, Europe
and Africa
• Plays a key role in cases of moderate cooperation
• Global geographic influence
• Strong influence in medium-sized aquifers
(10,000-1,000,000 km
2
), where there are
more than two aquifer states and in cases of
low cooperation
• Global geographic influence
• Strong influence in large-scale aquifers
(
≥
1,000,000 km
2
and more than five
aquifer states)
• Noticeable influence on high cooperation events
• Strongest in Europe and North America
• Not critical to promoting any specific level
of cooperation
• Critical in small-sized aquifers (
≤
10,000 km
2
)
• Significant influence on cases of low cooperation
• Influential in North and South America; also has
some influence in Africa
• Noticeable influence on low cooperation
• No geographic trend
• Influential in high cooperation cases
• Noticeable role in the Global South
• Highly influential for medium-scale
transboundary aquifers (10,000-1,000,000 km
2
and 3-5 aquifer states)
A summary of enabling factors for transboundary aquifer cooperation
Source: IGRAC 2012