Tension and confrontation between riparian states over planned measures are likely to occur in the absence of an inclusive legal framework governing the utilization, management, and conservation of transboundary watercourses. The construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), 2011, has reignited the tension on the use and share of the riparian countries over the Nile River. Egypt and Sudan have demanded notification of the project, the provision of all available information, and the time for the responses (to these questions) before Ethiopia continues with the construction of the GERD. However, Ethiopia has rejected the request for prior notification as a precondition for commencing the GERD project. As a result, Ethiopia and its downstream neighbours, particularly Egypt, have entered into various forms of consultations and negotiations due to concerns over the impact of the GERD. This article examines whether Ethiopia is under an international obligation not to implement the GERD without notifying and consulting Egypt and Sudan and whether the ongoing consultations and negotiations emanate from a legal obligation or mere confidence-building measures. The author argues that Ethiopia has no obligation (under international treaty obligations and customary international law on transboundary waters) to provide notification of planned measures such as GERD and engage in consultations.

The 1997 UN Watercourses Convention has influenced the development of many bilateral and multilateral international water agreements. There is ongoing debate on the extent to which the Watercourses Convention has influenced the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA). In this article, the author examines the interface between Watercourses Convention and CFA on some of the most contentious issues therein. It is argued that the Watercourses Convention has (in spite of various criticisms) greatly influenced the development of CFA in terms of the substantive and procedural contents of the agreement. The influence of the Watercourses Convention is more visible in shaping some of the major substantive principles such as the general obligation to cooperate, the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization, and the duty not to cause significant harm. The Watercourses Convention has also influenced the CFA"s procedural rules such as the duty to exchange information, settlement of disputes and institutionalization of cooperation. In the era of increasing water security tension among the Nile River riparian states, the Watercourses Convention is set to dominate emerging new developments toward regulating the utilization, conservation, and management of the Nile River.

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Constitution confines the power of regional states over water to administration of watercourse that flows within their respective territories. Various proclamations introduce an integrated approach to water resources management through the application of proper and integrated master planning. To this end, a new institutional framework is established through the creation of Basins" Development Authority at national level. The previously established Basin High Councils and Authorities were implementing integrated water management within their respective basins and the powers and obligations of the basin based high councils and authorities are transferred to the newly established National Basin High Council and Basins Development Authority. Some adjustments are necessary due to federalism and issues related to the constitutional framework of water resources that have been overlooked. When the Water Resources Management Proclamation and other water laws are read together with the various provisions of the FRDE Constitution, they lack clarity save the power of the federal government to enact framework legislation over water resources within states" territories. Works undertaken by the federal profit-oriented public enterprises transforming water into an economic good on the lands that are administered by the regional states is an area of on-going controversy. I argue that regional states should claim their constitutional right to levy and collect land use fee from profit making federal public enterprises that are engaged in transforming water into economic good within the framework of integrated water resources management system.