The management of international waters in EU and SADC compared

Abstract

The paper draws on an international conference on the Management of Shared River Basins that was held in Maseru in May 1997 among representatives of SADC and EU member states. It uses the model of the 'classical temple' to analyse a number of case studies: the Zambezi, the Orange, the Incomati, the Limpopo, the Rhine, the Meuse and the Danube. The temple has as its foundation Integrated Water Resources Management. The roof, the shared management of international waters, is supported by three essential pillars that need to be level and equally strong: the political, institutional/legal and operational/technical pillars. It is concluded that the technical/operational pillar is central and crucial to build the temple and to keep it erect in periods of political or institutional instability.