Over the coming decade, governments throughout the world will struggle to manage water in ways that are efficient, equitable, and environmentally sound. Whether these efforts succeed may turn, in large part, on providing the public with a voice in watershed management decisions that directly affect them. Public involvement holds the promise of improving the management of international watercourses and reducing the potential for conflict over water issues.

This volume examines the experiences in many watercourses around the world, lessons learned, and areas for further development. Drawing upon papers presented at a symposium on “Improving Public Participation and Governance in International Watershed ManagementEco-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute, United Nations University, and other institutions, the chapters identify some of the considerations Elinguistic, political, legal, traditional and cultural, geographic, and institutional Ethat should be considered when extending and adapting the approaches to other watersheds.

Editors
Carl Bruch is a Senior Attorney of the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C. Libor Jansky is a Senior Academic Programme Officer in the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme at the United Nations University, Tokyo. Mikiyasu Nakayama is a Professor of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo. Kazimierz A. Salewicz is a Systems Analyst specializing in Decision Support System and water resources management in international river basins. He lives and works in Vienna.

Contents