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Sustaining transboundary water management
by investing in community cooperation
Benjamin Noury, Associate Director, Oxyo Water
T
ransboundary cooperation is often associated with inter-
state mechanisms and high political levels. However,
among the 276 transboundary river basins presently
identified, numerous examples of cooperation involve a
combination of international, regional, national and local
stakeholders in a complex interplay. This article analyses
two case studies on multi-scale interactions and shows how
projects can generate benefits at the transboundary level while
acting at the community scale.
Communities living in transboundary river basins share a common
environment. Yet, they are often separated by borders, which are
usually indicated by the river itself. People live in similar conditions
and generally depend on the same water resources. However, they
rarely have opportunities to meet with each other and exchange on
common issues. This lack of communication can generate mistrust
between these populations and facilitate the emergence of precon-
ceived ideas. In the case of the Okavango, some communities in
Botswana believed that the decrease of the river flow every year
was due to an excessive use of the riparian communities located
upstream. During project implementation in this basin,
they realized that the recurring drought they were
facing had been the result of a natural phenomenon
linked to the rainfall system.
In order to create the right transboundary water
management conditions, it is important not to neglect
these communities and to invest time and money to
encourage innovative local approaches. These initiatives
and approaches contribute to establishing a climate of
confidence that encourages transboundary cooperation.
Local communities are stakeholders that can be relied
upon and who are more quickly dedicated to initiatives
relating to the long-term development of their terri-
tory and environment. In addition to exchanging data
or signing treaties, community-level transboundary
activities contribute directly to sustain and strengthen
cooperation within a river basin.
Two projects carried out by non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) promote this approach of local
cooperation for transboundary benefits: the Good
Water Neighbors (GWN) in the Jordan river basin and
the Every River Has Its People Project (ERP) in the
Okavango river basin.
The GWN project was established by Friends of the
Earth in the Middle East (FoEME) in 2001 within the
Jordan river basin with two primary goals. The first was
to advance cross-border cooperation by focusing atten-
tion on shared water concerns and the need to protect
shared water resources. The second was to foster peace
and cooperation through long-term trust building based
on the shared interests of neighbouring communities.
To achieve these goals, the GWN project selected
neighbouring communities on opposite sides of the
national border or political divide, and located in close
proximity to a shared water resource. In each commu-
nity, FoEME hired a local staff person from within the
community to lead activities on common water issues.
Initially, eleven Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian
communities, divided into groups of neighbours, were
selected to participate in the project. Many of these
communities were able to see each other directly over
the border. People living in these bordering communi-
ties obtained their water from the same sources, often
jointly polluting those water sources as well. By 2013,
the GWN project had successfully been expanded to
28 communities.
T
ransboundary
W
ater
M
anagement
Local children are involved in the GWN project to promote sustainable water management
Image: B Noury