Resource information
The environment and security literature
has argued that freshwater scarcity often leads to
inter-state conflict, and possibly acute violence. The
contention, however, ignores the long history of
hydro-political cooperation exemplified by hundreds of
documented agreements. Building on a theory that considers
the relationship between scarcity and hydro-political
cooperation, this paper empirically investigates why
treaties are negotiated for some rivers and between some
riparians, and not others. The paper suggests that long-term
water scarcity has a significant influence on levels of
cooperation. Additional variables considered include trade,
level of governance among the riparian states, and the
geography of the river. Findings confirm that cooperation
and scarcity embody a concave (inverted U curve)
relationship. Governance has a positive impact on
cooperation. In addition, riparians may either arrange the
use of their scarce water resources via a treaty or trade
(and indirectly exchange [virtual] water). Scarcity,
governance, and trade were found to be most salient in
explaining levels of cooperation while geography is
significant in some of the estimates.
