Trans-jurisdictional water law and governance

Water has no respect for arbitrary, human-defined borders and institutions, and presents one of the most confounding governance challenges in contemporary natural resource management. This book proposes that sustainable water governance requires 'trans-jurisdictional water governance', defined as legal and policy responses to the conservation, management and use of water resources that cross administrative borders.

With considerable government, citizen and financial donor attention having been devoted to developing a range of international, transnational and national laws and policies to protect, manage and sustainably use both fresh and coastal marine water resources, the book seeks to achieve coherence and institutional coordination between and across different bodies of laws at the local, national, regional and international levels. It includes case studies from the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, United States and the Mekong in Southeast Asia. Overall the book demonstrates the challenges and responses to water law and governance at different scales and contexts around the world.