Coordination Of Existing Use And Potential Use Of Transboundary Watercourses

Affected by natural conditions and social development levels,the use of water resources by the riparian countries of international watercourses is always in different time.Countries that have previously used them are likely to rely on watercourses for economic development and social life.The states' use of water resources later may be restricted by countries that have prior access to watercourses.Under the circumstances that water resources are not enough to meet the needs of all riparian countries,the conflicts between existing and future use is becoming increasingly prominent.This study is based on the text analysis of the Convention on the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses(hereinafter abbreviated as the"Convention"),and also clarifies the connotation and draft history of the articles.From the perspective of the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization of transboundary water resources,this study is focusing on the relationship between existing and future use.Preliminary conclusions are drawn as follows:First,the texts of the Convention and related legal provisions,documents,etc.emphasize that neither existing use nor future use have inherent priority,but they didn't provide a solution to solve the conflicts between existing use and future use;secondly,from the perspective of historical development,existing use has certain inherent priority for a long period of time,but with the development of international water law,the priority of existing utilization shows a tendency to be weakened at both theoretical and practical ways.Studying the relationship between two uses themselves and three aspects(these two uses and other factors in the Article 6 of the Convention,"the needs of people who are necessary for life" and sustainable use)is conducive to a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the relationship between the two uses,and provides useful inspiration for coordinating the inherent contradictions and conflicts between these two uses.Due to the diversity of watercourses and the complexity of specific practices,it is neither feasible nor necessary to establish a prioritized formula for coordinating these two uses,but it can be based on the above analysis to harmonize the inherent contradictions and conflicts between existing and future uses,and provide universal principles and feasible mechanisms for reference.For this reason,this study puts forward suggestions for coordinating the problems caused by the use of existing use and future use in practice in terms of basic paths,mechanism construction,and specific measures,with a view to effectively avoiding the inherent contradictions and conflicts between these two uses,and achieving the goal of equitable and reasonable use of transboundary water resources.In terms of basic routes,a clear solution to the conflicts between these two uses mainly depends on the cooperation between the basin countries;in terms of mechanism construction,it is very effective to establish multi-functional and comprehensive river basin-wide organizational structures;in terms of specific measures,the river basin countries should actively exchange information and obey the obligation of notification.