Conference Agenda

Water issues have traditionally been viewed as regional or local questions within delimited socio-hydrological systems, where water protection and different uses should be balanced. Nowadays, water issues are understood as increasingly globalised phenomena beyond this traditional scale. Planetary boundaries research on water posits that regional and local water issues transcend to alterations in the global hydrological system. Moreover, water use is increasingly globalised; through transnational trade and corporate activities, the use of water in producing commodities, such as agricultural, textile, mining or forestry products, happens in other parts of the world than their consumption, as encapsulated in concepts of virtual water and water footprints. Estimates show how around 40–80 % of water used by Global North states is externalised outside their borders, often in already water-vulnerable regions in Global South, which drives the transgression of the global hydrological cycle. Despite growing understanding of these problems, few analyses have addressed these new water-relationships and globalised water problems from a legal perspective. The project analyses whether existing legal frameworks – such as international water law – and new instruments – like corporate sustainability legislation – can address and govern the unsustainable globalised water use. We conclude that resulting from limitations of some traditional doctrines, principles and concepts of international (environmental and water) law, extending water governance norms and principles on such water use is challenging. However, human rights to water bear promise in governing transnational water use and corporate conduct and can be used as a starting point for a new transnational water governance regime. The project strongly aligns with the Conference’s thematic framework, with particular links to the Theme 2. Water Rights, Obligations, and Justice, as it examines issues of water use, legal obligations of states to manage water and human rights and access to water and sanitation in the context of globalised water use.

Water security has recently become a principal issue and the aim of water resources management. Legal security has always been one of the main goals of the rule of law.

Thus, the parallelism or convergence between water security and legal security in their respective spheres, water resources management and law, seems evident, although it has rarely been addressed by the specialized literature.

This convergence is an indisputable challenge for water law today. From this perspective, and based on a comparative analysis of the cases of Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador, the contribution identifies three sources of legal uncertainty that undermine the region's water security objectives: ineffective legislation, the increasing use of emergency regulations, and controversial judicial activism. It discusses how this contributes to addressing or aggravating problems, and how to achieve water security without sacrificing legal security on the moving stage of climate change.

This presentation offers a Canadian perspective on evolving trends in international water governance, using the ongoing renegotiation of the Columbia River Treaty as an entry point for broader reflection. Now more than sixty years since its entry into force, the Columbia River Treaty remains a foundational example of transboundary water cooperation in North America. Its modernization highlights pressing governance themes: treaty adaptation, ecosystem-based management, Indigenous rights, stakeholder engagement and the balancing of hydropower, flood control, and environmental flows. Moving beyond the Columbia basin, the presentation considers emerging freshwater governance issues facing Canada in the international context. Among these are bulk water transfers, as well as virtual water transfers, such as through the rising water demands of artificial intelligence infrastructure. These developments reflect the growing intersection of freshwater governance with energy transitions, digital infrastructure, and biodiversity protection. The presentation asks: where does Canada stand in 2025 within the framework of changing geopolitics around freshwater resources? This presentation draws on treaty practice, recent scholarship, and current policy debates to reflect on Canada's evolving role in international water governance a quarter-century into the new millennium.

This contribution aligns with the Congress’s three sub-themes on 1. Water Law and Governance for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, 2. Water Rights, Obligations, and Justice, and 3. Balancing Changing Hydrologic Conditions, Water Usage, and Biodiversity Conservation.

Semi-arid basins in India face growing climate-driven variability that exposes critical gaps in existing legal and governance structures. Indian water law, constitutionally assigned to the State List, applies uniformly across diverse climatic zones, inadequately reflecting basin-specific vulnerabilities. This study advances a novel, climate-responsive governance model by integrating high-resolution climate–hydrological modelling with a targeted legal analysis for the Moyar–Bhavani catchment (≈4100 km², 700 mm mean annual rainfall).

Utilizing statistically downscaled projections from three global climate models (MRI-CGCM3, CNRM-CM5, MIROC-5) across four representative concentration pathways, the research applies a calibrated SWAT model (baseline: 1977–2009) combined with Multiple Linear Regression (temperature) and Deep Neural Network–KNN hybrid methods (precipitation). Projected trends consistently indicate rising temperatures (up to +0.6 °C), heightened evapotranspiration, decreasing surface runoff, and a transition toward ‘almost dry’ rainfall regimes by 2080, confirming intensifying hydrological deficits, even where mean rainfall marginally increases. Field investigations, such as increased borewell depths and diminished forest honey yields, validate these modelled drought and socio-ecological stress signals.

Findings are operationalized through a Hydrological Stress Framework, translating observed and modelled parameters (runoff, Q95 flow, groundwater recharge, evapotranspiration) into tiered legal thresholds categorized as Normal, Alert, Stress, and Critical. These scientifically derived triggers are cross-mapped onto India’s legal regime, including the Water Act, Environment (Protection) Act, and provisions of the Draft National Water Framework and Model Groundwater Bills - setting out pathways for regulatory escalation, enforceable restrictions, and adaptive water allocations within basin authorities. The framework aligns with national priorities for climate adaptation, IWRM, and India’s commitments under international climate agreements.

By integrating climate modelling, field validation, and legal analysis, this study offers a transferable framework to convert basin-specific climate risks diagnostics into juridically enforceable adaptive governance tools - advancing AIDA 2026 Theme 1; offering a model for regulating water stress in semi-arid basins under climate change.

Water scarcity has long posed a significant challenge to Israel, and the pressures of climate change and rapid population growth have further intensified this constraint. In response, Israel has developed a comprehensive and innovative framework for WRM and WSS, grounded in four interrelated pillars: conceptual and legal, regulatory, economic, and technological.

The conceptual and legal pillar is formulated in Article 1 of the 1959 Water Law, which declares that all water resources within the State are public property, subject to state control, and allocated for national needs and development. This principle abolishes private water rights, including those associated with land ownership. All water abstraction, conveyance, and use require annual permits with strict limitations; overuse incurs financial penalties. Consumption is universally metered. Water projects require official authorization, and drilling operations are licensed to ensure sustainable management, regardless of the ownership of the infrastructure.

The regulatory pillar is embodied in the Water Authority regulator formed in 2007 to oversee all aspects of IWRM and WSS. The authority consolidated water-related responsibilities from multiple ministries into a single governing body, providing an institutional framework for policy coordination and implementation. Its Council includes representatives from former agencies, facilitating inter-ministerial collaboration.

The economic pillar ensures financial sustainability through a closed economic model, wherein all operational and infrastructure costs are covered by water tariffs rather than government budget. Tariffs are determined by the Water Authority’s Council and reflect actual production and distribution costs, with internal cross-subsidies balancing disparities across sectors and regions.

Finally, the technological pillar enhances water availability and reliability through interconnectivity, large-scale wastewater treatment and desalination. Most urban drinking water is derived from desalinated sources, while treated wastewater is directed to agriculture.

This multifaceted framework enables Israel to maintain water security under conditions of scarcity, serving as a global model for adaptive water management.