User:Gggg2123/waterresourcepolicy sandbox

Laws and Practices
Property rights like west coast vs east coast in the US

Agreements Between Nations
Water basins do not align with national borders and an estimated 60% of worldwide freshwater flows across political boundaries. Countries navigate managing shared water resources by making agreements in the form of treaties. An estimated 3600 water treaties have existed, including the introduction of more than 150 new ones since 1950. Transboundary water agreements, like treaties, are oftentimes focused on water infrastructure and quality. Water resource treaties encompass many types of water like surface water, groundwater, watercourses, and dams. When a water resource can be shared equally, like a river acting as a border between nations, there tends to be less conflict than upstream/downstream water resource sharing agreements. Sometimes treaties establish joint committees between the two or more nations to oversee all water sharing and to ensure that treaty agreements are being met. Two examples of this are the 1996 Ganges Treaty between India and Bangladesh and the 1955 Great Lakes Basin Compact between the United States and Canada. With increasing water scarcity and competition for water resources due to climate change and diminished water quality, there has been an increase in international water-based conflict. Another example of a water resource interstate agreement is through multi-country agreements to get funding for water resource projects such as building hydropower dams. In Sub-Saharan African countries, China has financed many hydropower projects.

Informal Exchanges
Making changes that affect someone else's access to water like building a dam without an agreement

NOT PUBLISHED
Outline

-Water as a Resource: green water, blue water, gray water, consumed water

-Broad Types of Water Policy: management rules/regulations (like EPA), laws and practices (property rights like west coast vs east coast in the US), agreements between nations (Great Lakes Compact), aid programs and diplomatic efforts (USAID), informal exchanges (making changes that affect someone else's access to water like building a dam without an agreement), covenants and declarations (set goals like the human right to water in the UN), economic exchanges (virtual water/water footprint of food)

-Water Resource Policy Case Studies/Examples (both "good" and "bad")

-Issues Facing Water Resource Policy: diplomatic (cannot come to agreements, upstream rule), public vs private water (private water companies, France, World Bank)

Diplomatic
cannot come to agreements, upstream rule

Public vs Private Water Resources
private water companies, France, World Bank

-TO DO LIST:

-Write: Management Rules and Regulations, Laws and Practices, Agreements Between Nations, Informal Exchanges, Public vs Private Water Resource Issues, Diplomatic Issues, Pollution and Water Quality Issues, Climate Change issues

-Fix: Business water resource policy initiatives, Freshwater/Surface water/Wastewater, Structural Constraints on Policy Makers, Header paragraph