Transboundary Rivers

First Mesopotamia Water Forum highlights water as both source of conflict, tool for peace

Last week, I had the privilege to attend the Mesopotamia Water Forum at the University of Sulaimani in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Organized by the Save the Tigris campaign, the forum was the first of its kind, bringing together researchers and campaigners from throughout Mesopotamia, from all stretches of the mighty Tigris and Euphrates river basins. The 150 participants represented different countries, languages, and cultures, but were united in calling for Mesopotamian waters to be shared equitably, and to be used as a tool for sustainable peace rather than conflict. Emergency flooding b

Why has the Nile River Become a Battleground?

The Nile in Egypt: Lifeline in a desert. (NASA)
This week, Ethiopia announced it was diverting the flow of the Blue Nile to begin building the huge Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Water-stressed Egypt – a downstream Nile Basin nation – soon called for Ethiopia to halt work on the dam. Egyptian politicians have been brainstorming ways to stop the project, including hostilities. Why is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam causing such strife? In addition to Egypt’s fears that it will reduce its lifeline of Nile waters, the tensions have been fanned by the project’s poor planning process.

Toriqul Isalm: Jalangi and Chandana Rivers

Friday, March 1, 2013
Today I will tell a story of how a bread earner (trans-boundary) river has started to die because of the inane and malicious activities of its own populace. Jalangi and Chandana are two daughters of the Ganges River which originate from the Maldaho in India's West Bengal. At the dawn of their birth they were committed to their mother nature to fulfill their journey and meld with Ocean. The siblings were decorated by green nature even they were much intimated. In the course of time, to keep their commitments, the siblings had to go their own way - that’s why they separate their paths to fulf

How I Learned to Love the UNECE Water Convention

Alkhanai National Park in the headwaters of the transboundary Amur River
In this guest blog, Eugene Simonov from Rivers without Boundaries explains the benefits of a new transboundary water convention and encourages NGOs around the world to get involved in it.

How Chinese Loans Could Fuel Regional Conflict in East Africa

China has made great efforts to support poverty reduction in Africa, and likes to present itself as a friend of the African people. A new report warns that its loans for the Gibe III Dam and irrigation projects on the Omo River now threaten to pull China into an explosive regional conflict between well-armed groups in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The Salween River Basin

Friday, May 25, 2012
From its headwaters in the Tibetan Plateau to its estuary in Burma, the Salween River supports over ten million people. For many decades, it was the longest free-flowing river in Southeast Asia. It sustains rich fisheries and farmlands central to the lives of many indigenous communities living along its banks. However, large dam cascades in China and Burma are being planned in complete secrecy, with no participation from affected communities and no analysis of the cumulative impacts or seismic risks of these projects.
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