Riverine Disputes 2

                                     Grand Renaissance Dam. Source:(US/C,2020)

Development of Riverine dispute frameworks

 

Yoffe (2003,9) has found that extreme events of conflicts were more commonly found in areas with ‘highly variable hydrologic conditions’. Africa’s erratic climates provide ideal conditions for conflict. International frameworks have been developed to assist the resolution of competing national demands for river water (The Helsinki Rules 1966 and the UN Watercourse Convention 1997)(Demin,2015). These controls are often frustratingly abstract, and neither Ethiopia or Egypt have ratified them(Tanzi,2020). International frameworks seek to allocate rights by determining what is ‘reasonable and equitable and further refer to historic use of the water source(Wolf,2009). However, ‘reasonable and equitable’ are subjective and unquantifiable measures. Furthermore these agreements have neither been developed or enforced by international courts.

 

Historically two contrasting positions have been taken in relation to riverine disputes: The Harmon Doctrine, which considers that a nation has complete control of the waterways within its own border, and therefore favours Ethiopia. The second position looks to favour at historic use of a river, thus favouring Egypt(Wolf,2009). The UN Watercourse Convention (1997) is the most relevant treaty framework for solving international disputes over use of cross-border river systems(Tanzi,2020).   

Claims of Equity?

Egypt still view a treaty signed in 1902 by Great Britain and Ethiopia - which agrees that Ethiopia disclaim any right to the Nile - as legally binding (Tvedt,2017). Further, Egypt would quote Article 7 of the UNWConvention which imposes  ‘a duty on states to take measures to prevent causing significant harms to other states sharing an international watercourse’(Tanzi,2020,624). Thus Egypt has a right to limit development in the upper riparian region of the Nile. In contrast, Ethiopia would quote Article 5 which ‘permits riparian states sharing an international watercourse to utilise the watercourse in an equitable and reasonable manner’’(Tanzi,2020,625). 

The lack of accurate data in these regions makes it increasingly difficult to address claims made by either side. Yoffe (2003) looked at 49 treaties addressing riverine disputes. The majority of these treaties favour riverine users with the longest historical claim. While political threats have increased from both sides, it is possible that the conflict could be decided by the political allegiances of large nation-states, whose investments carry large political weight. 

 

Always conflict?

 

Issues over rivers crossing different borders are not always shaped by conflict; in fact Yoffe (2003) found that between 1948-1999 in 122 international river basins, cooperative incidents (67%) greatly exceeded that of conflictive (28%) events. There have been attempts in the Nile region for greater cooperation. The Nile Basin initiative (signed by all ten riparian countries of the Nile) seeks to develop the River Nile in a cooperative manner through an increase in regional intergovernmental partnership (NBI,2020).

Attached is a video that looks at the conflict in depth