Murky waters: the future of transboundary water governance in South and Southeast Asia

ABSTRACT

Transboundary water governance is highly complex. It is often plagued by tense relations, technocratic water management and from being infrastructure orientated. In particular, the governance of transboundary rivers in the South and Southeast Asian region is likely to become increasingly complex due to a changing geopolitical environment. This makes it difficult to assess whether it will follow a similar trajectory as countries in the global North, where the uncertainty and complexities involved in water management are recognized and basin wide cooperation is often the norm, or forge a different path. An expert survey was conducted to identify the most significant factors influencing transboundary water governance in South and Southeast Asia and their implications for the future to extrapolate the trajectory of hydropolitics for the region. It was found that China is becoming increasingly influential in the governance of transboundary water in the region, which may come to represent a new water management regime.

KEYWORDS:

• Transboundary rivers
• governance
• climate change
• water management
• South Asia
• Southeast Asia

Acknowledgements

The author would like to express sincere gratitude to Prof. P. Hills, Prof. K. Joe-Laidler and Dr. W. Law for sharing their insights and comments. The author would also like to thank Dr. B. Russell for his time and support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Similar to China, India is highly influential in transboundary water governance and politics in the South Asian region.