Three Stage Plan Over Euphrates-Tigris and Nile Basin Initiatives Over Nile: Innovative Approach to Resolving Trans-Boundry Water Dispute

Approximately 60 percent of the world’s fresh water supply is located in 276 trans-boundary rivers, such as the Nile, Rhine, Danube, Indus, Columbia, and Mekong basins. These trans-boundary rivers cover 45 percent of the earth’s land surface and provide a home for 40 percent of the world’s population. About 90 percent of rivers and lakes in Africa are trans-boundary, while in the Middle East, trans-boundary basins provide over 60 percent of the region’s domestic water supply. Indeed, the increasing scarcity of freshwater in many parts of the world points to the possibility of disagreements over shared water resources as a leading source of conflict in the 21st century. In short, about three-fifths of the water flowing in all rivers is shared by two or more countries. As a result, many countries are dependent on river water that flows from outside their own national territory. For example, 34% of water resources in India and 76% of water resources in Pakistan originate outside these countries. As another example, the Nile River Basin is shared by 11 countries that are mutually dependent on their water resources. Dependence on trans-boundary water resources can also challenge a state’s ability to respond to floods and droughts. A state’s failure to meet these domestic demands can contribute to regional tension and domestic insecurity. The paper begins with an examination of the major underlying reasons for inter-state river water conflicts. There are many worldwide examples of inter-state river water conflicts like in the Middle East region (Euphrates and the Tigris rivers dispute among Turkey, Syria and Iraq; and the Jordan River conflict among Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians) in Africa (Nile River dispute among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia), and in the former Soviet Union (The Aral Sea conflict among Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). The paper delves into to examine the legal-politico approach of Middle East over Euphrates- Tigris water dispute. The Euphrates-Tigris Basin is shared between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, with Iran comprising parts of the Tigris basin. Both Syria and Iraq are strongly opposed to all of Turkey's development projects on the Euphrates and the Tigris. Many initiatives have been taken by the Middle East countries to resolve the river water conflicts. The legal- politico approach toward water disputes remained insufficient in Middle East without their mutual trust and cooperation along cross border communities to resolve inter-state water conflicts. A set of approaches aims to resolve conflicts over water, before they acquire violent nature or have other serious consequences. The paper explores the innovative approach to resolve the trans- boundary water disputes.

Furthermore, the paper examines one of innovative initiatives taken to resolve their water disputes such as three stage plan. In 1984, after several years of tri-partite negotiations among riparian’s of the Euphrates-Tigris watercourse system, namely Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, within the context of the Joint Technical Committee. Turkish authorities came up with a proposal for a comprehensive plan, which was called the “Three Stages Plan for Optimum, Equitable and Reasonable Utilization of the Trans-boundary Watercourse of the Euphrates Basin,” or shortly, the Three-Stage Plan. The Three-Stage Plan, indeed, has proposed a comprehensive evaluation of water and land resources with the aim of optimal, rational, and equitable water allocation, which would be based not only on supply-related data, but also on the determination of just demands. In this respect, the plan has a holistic and integrated approach. Another significant feature of the plan was the recognition of the central role of data sharing and calibration activities, which are also seen as indispensable elements in a sound water management system.

In the same manner, Nile River basin also made an initiative towards the intergovernmental technical partnership to resolve river water sharing disputes. The Nile Basin covers around 10% of Africa’s land mass, and the Nile River, the worlds longest, underpins livelihoods for over 200 million people. The Nile is shared by 10 countries, each with different needs and priorities, but also with common challenges as discussed in South Asia such as increasing demand for water, environmental degradation, recurrent flooding, droughts, distrust, and energy insecurity. The Nile countries committed to a path of technical cooperation, and the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was established in 1999 as a transitional institution to promote cooperative management and development of the Nile basin’s water resources. Finally, the implementation of the plan may reduce wasteful use of scant resources in the region, which would indirectly have a positive effect in an environmental sense. Based on the comprehensive nature of this plan its suitability and applicability should be analysed so that a plan can be proposed for similar conflicts in other regions. The growing impacts of climate change are making it mandatory for all basin countries to focus on water management issues from an unbiased and scientific perspective.