Publications

The Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database Project: Tools and Data for Evaluating International Water Conflict

forthcoming by Shira B. Yoffe, Brian S. Ward, and Aaron T. Wolf

Abstract
Keywords
The Paper (forthcoming)
Footnotes (forthcoming)

Abstract

Analysis of current economic and environmental trends reveals increasing competition over access to and use of freshwater resources at the same time that population growth, economic development, and potential climate change are adding stress to those resources. Given these trends, it is hardly surprising that in the policy literature and the popular press the issues of water and conflict are being raised together with increasing frequency. Strong evidence, however, indicates the prevalence of “hydro-cooperation,” rather than hydro-conflict.

To aid in the assessment of the process of water conflict resolution, the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (TFDD) project, Oregon State University, was created. The TFDD contains a searchable database of summaries and full text of more than 150 water-related treaties, from 1874 to the present, as well as an annotated bibliography of the state of the art of water conflict resolution, with over 1,000 entries, detailed negotiation notes of fourteen case-studies of water conflict resolution, news files on acute cases of water-related disputes, and descriptions of indigenous methods of water conflict resolution. In addition, the TFDD represents the most complete, digitized, delineation of the world’s international river basins.

Professionals concerned with security-related issues have an interest in being able to identify which of those basins may be prone to conflict over water resources. A current project of the TFDD is an evaluation of basins at risk (BAR) for future conflict over international water resources. Identification of basins prone to water conflict requires a framework that incorporates a wide array of physical, social, economic, and political variables, the implications of these variables at different spatial and temporal scales, and the linkages across scales. Potential indicators of international water conflict will be analyzed and portrayed spatially within a Geographic Information System. The statistical analyses and numerical and spatial data developed through the BAR project will become part of the TFDD and will provide a wealth of empirical information and analysis to support or debunk current beliefs concerning freshwater resources and international conflict. In addition, the project will provide comprehensive data sets of instances of international water conflict and cooperation, and a compilation of data delineated by international river basin, as well as by country. These data sets will be a valuable resource to researchers and policy-makers, who will be able to access this data through the project’s website (Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database).

Keywords

International river basins, water treaties, conflict, conflict resolution, indicators, geographic information systems (GIS).