Contestation and Collaboration for Water Resources: Comparing the Emerging Regional Water Governance of the Aral Sea, Irtysh River, and Mekong River

Abstract

This paper enquires into how effectively “regional transboundary water governance” functions in resolving ecological problems associated with shared water resources. It compares three cases in Asia—the Irtysh River, Aral Sea, and Mekong River basin. Previous scholarly work on the hydro-politics of these three cases within social science disciplines, especially political science and international relations, focuses heavily on the dimension of “hegemonic power disparity between state actors” (from the weaker parties’ points of view) and/or the “economic or strategic benefits of development either defending or criticizing” (from the more powerful—often the polluters’—point of view). To contribute to existing research, this paper intends to enlarge the analytical scope and use the formation of regional environmental governance to grasp a broader picture of the complexity and interconnectivity of ecological issues, regional history, and politics. For analysis, we investigated the multilevel gaps in environmental communication at three different levels, exploring both the conflictual and cooperative relationships amongst all actors involved, namely (a) state-to-state relations: hydro-hegemonism due to the power disparity in historical and political contexts; (b) society level: authoritarian environmentalism between politics and citizens; and (c) global inter-connectivity or distance from (or the absence of) the application of international norms. We argue that all three cases, albeit at various degrees, equally exhibit the potential to fill the multidimensional gaps to ensure more functional, effective, and equitable regional hydro-governance.

Phylosophical Essay on the Traditional Knowledge and Use of Rock Pools in the Brazilian Drylands: Memory and Identity in Temporary Ecosystems

“…Climate change scenarios indicate alarming projections for arid and semiarid regions. An increase in temperature and reduction in water availability, has resulted in an expansion of these areas on a global scale (IPCC, 2007) reducing access to water in regions such as South Africa, the Aral Sea region, and Australia (Ragab and Prudhomme, 2002;Bourdais et al, 2021). Aboriginal peoples, for example, describe "living water" as a permanent source (Andersen, 2019), whereas seasonal waters are associated with dry periods and are sometimes stochastic and irregular in dryland regions.…”

Comparative Assessment of Geomorphological and Landscape Features Around the Small Aral Sea

“…The effect of pollution is enhanced by the fact that the Aral Sea is located on the highway of a powerful jet stream of air from west to east. This facilitates the transfer of aerosols to the high layers as well as their rapid spread in the atmosphere and ecosystems which are thousands of kilometers away from Central Asia by [Bourdais, 2020].…”