Transboundary Water Governance:A Case Study Of Cooperation Between Portugal And Spain

The right of access to water,as well as the right to its equitable and reasonable use are fundamental human rights.However,these are frequently conditioned by human activity(i.e.pollution)and natural phenomena(i.e.droughts,floods),which points to a necessity of developing proper models of transboundary water management and active cooperation that take into consideration not only socioeonomic and political aspects but that also address environmental concerns.The situation is particularly worrying in Africa and Asia,where socieconomic vulnerability and risk of conflict tend to be the highest,but also very concerning for European countries,especially Portugal and Spain which are increasingly affected by droughts.This thesis analyses the evolution of water cooperation between these two countries under the bilateral 1998 Albufeira Convention.It is shown how important have international agreements been in the adoption and implementation of this Convention,particularly global conventions and EU water policy—namely the Water Framework Directive.This is done always taking into account the unique conditions and factors of the national,regional and international contexts.In terms of outcomes and impacts,it is argued that cooperation between both countries generated substantial benefits,such as more economic efficiency in the use of water,more preparedness and coordination in cases of floods and pollution accidents,and increased governance transparency.However many ambitious environmental objectives were not fully met or have even deteriorated between different reporting periods.These results are followed by a discussion on several factors favouring cooperation,such as the dynamics of supranational and subnational regionalism,and several factors hindering cooperation,such as excessive centralization or excessive decentralization.