Water resource policy
[1] When developing water resource policies, many different stakeholders, environmental variables, and considerations have to be taken to ensure the health of people and ecosystems are maintained or improved.
[8] Mitigation and updated water resource policies will require interdisciplinary and international collaboration, including government officials, environmental scientists, sociologists, economists, climate modelers, and activists.
[15][12] Water basins do not align with national borders and an estimated 60% of worldwide freshwater flows across political boundaries.
The Permanent Court of International Justice adjudicates disputes between nations, including water rights litigation.
Two examples of this are the 1996 Ganges Treaty between India and Bangladesh and the 1955 Great Lakes Basin Compact between the United States and Canada.
[25] Since the 1996 International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights declaration, all 191 UN member states have also signed the Millennium Development Goals, which is a further commitment to combat health inequalities.
[26] Access to safe and clean water for drinking and sanitation were fully declared human rights on July 28, 2010 through the UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/64/292.
[43] The World Business Council for Sustainable Development engages stakeholders in H2OScenarios[44] that consider various alternative policies and their effects.
[46] Identified corporate water related risks include physical supply, regulatory and product reputation.
[46]: 23 This forum indicated policy concerns with: trade barriers, price supports, treatment of water as a free good creates underpricing of 98% of water,[46]: 2 need to intensify debate, and need to harmonize public/private sectors[46]: 28 Freshwater resources on earth are under increasing stress and depletion because of pollution, climate change, and consumptive use.
[12] Water can produce a natural disaster in the form of tsunamis, hurricanes, rogue waves and storm surge.
When runoff flows along the ground, it can pick up soil contaminants including, but not limited to petroleum, pesticides, or fertilizers that become discharge or nonpoint source pollution.
[55] With climate change, the frequency and intensity of droughts have been increasing but water resource policy is typically reactive instead of proactive.
[56] Droughts have negative economic impacts on many sectors including agriculture, environment, energy production and transportation.
[56] There were 414 participants from 87 countries that unanimously adopted the HMNDP declaration at the end of the meeting rallying national governments to implement drought management policies.
[60] The oceans provide many important resources for the planet and humans including: transportation, marine life, food, minerals, oil, natural gas, and recreation.
[63] The countries' economic zone, consisting of both the water column and the seafloor, continues out for 200 nautical miles where they are still entitled to the areas' resources.
[61] Oil rigs and undersea mineral extraction can create problems that affect shorelines, marine life, fisheries and human safety.
Rigs-to-reefs is a proposal for using obsolete oil rigs as substrate for coral reefs that has failed to reach consensus.
[61] Ballast water, fuel/oil leaks and trash originating from ships foul harbors, reefs and estuaries pollute the oceans.
[67] Along coasts, oceans are threatened by land runoff that includes fertilizers, insecticides, chemicals, and organic pollutants that can cause algal blooms and dead zones.
[69] For example, white marlin, an endangered billfish, is mostly accidentally caught and killed by swordfish and tuna longline fisheries.
[62] Desalination is particularly popular in arid, water-stressed regions like Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Cyprus, Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, and California, US.
[76] These review bodies are charged with protecting wilderness ecology, wildlife habitat, drinking water, agricultural irrigation and fisheries.
[77] They have the authority to make orders which are binding upon private actors such as international corporations[78] and do not hesitate to exercise the police powers of the state.
Water agencies have statutory mandate which in many jurisdictions is resilient to pressure from constituents and lawmakers in which they on occasion stand their ground despite heated opposition from agricultural interests[79] On the other hand, the Boards[who?]
In July 2010, United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution 64/292 reasserted the human right to receive safe, affordable, and clean accessible water and sanitation services.
The United Nations Development Programme has stated that broad recognition of the significance of accessing dependable and clean water and sanitation services will promote wide expansion of the achievement of a healthy and fulfilling life.
[85] The HRWS obliges governments to ensure that people can enjoy quality, available, acceptable, accessible, and affordable water and sanitation.
As reported by the non-partisan Civil Society Institute, a 2005 US Congressional study on water supply was suppressed and became the target of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation.
