423 Javier Del Valle Melendo Water as a strategic resource... Figure 1: Diagram of an international watercourse. Adapted from Aguilar G, Iza A.8 Given that the law governing shared basins is part of International Law, the main stakeholders are states.9 According to the international law governing rivers, states located in river basins are known as riparian states. However, this is only the case with surface waters; when we include groundwater, it becomes more complex. With regards terminology, we are not sure that the term “shared basin” is the most accurate. From a legal perspective, it is a shared resource in the same way that an international forest area or migratory species may be. The concept is broad enough to allow different interpretations: major river, river network, surface water or groundwater, and includes a geographical area, river network and surface and groundwater resources that are connected with a maritime or coastal transition zone. Water is an indivisible resource. At the national level, a state controls all of its inland waters; however, states that share a river exercise a kind of condominium based on the natural indivisibility of the water, which results in a shared sovereignty of the water. This is not the case, however, with other parts of the basin, such as the riverbed which can be divided physically. Each state in the basin holds partial sovereignty to the portion of the riverbed that crosses its territory. The principles of good neighbourliness and cooperation may limit national sovereignty over the states’ own river beds. 8 Aguilar G, Iza A. Gobernanza de aguas compartidas. Aspectos jurídicos e institucionales. UICN, serie de política y Derecho ambiental No. 58, Bonn. 2009, p 11. 9 Aguilar G, Iza A (2009). Op cit. p. 16. http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee
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