The Ganga Basin Management - The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent - page 241

States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of
international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources, pursuant to their own
environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdic-
tion, or control, do not cause damage to the environment of other States, or of areas beyond
the limits of national jurisdiction. (Principle 21, Declaration on the Human Environment in
Report of the United Nations conference on the Human Environment, 1972, UN Declaration
48/14 and Corr.-I).

International River Basin Co-operation

Subsequently, the UN General Assembly emphasized in a Resolution that ' In

the exploitation and development of their natural resources, states must not pro-
duce significant harmful effects in zones, situated outside their natural jurisdiction.'
(General Assembly Official Records, 27th Session supplement No. 30).
The United Nations Water Conference, held in 1977, emphasized development
and management of international water resources, keeping in view eventual scarcity
of global water resources. This led to a report on 'International River Basin Co-
operation: The Lessons from Experience' as a supporting document for future UN
water conferences. In the beginning it says,

...

... Globally, there may be potentially enough water to meet forthcoming needs; but, frus-
tratingly, it tends to be available in the wrong places, at the wrong time, or with the wrong
quality. And in one way or another, all societies are affected, however rich, however poor.

Political boundaries, dividing a river basin or an aquifer, aggravate the prob-
lem. Water flows according to physical laws, not within political boundaries; its use
is governed by institutions and patterns of use, responsive to political, social and
economic demands. Where national boundaries divide a river basin, which is the
physical unit for assessing and allocating water resources for various purposes, the
co-riparian, or co-basin, countries must engage in a co-operative endeavour to ratio-
nalize the use of the resource in terms of its capacity to meet the full range of the
demands that exist.
The use of water by people of a country that shares a water resource, may deter-
mine the benefits that those of a co-riparian country can get from the same source.
The use by one country without regard for the potentials and demands in co-riparian
countries can easily lead to inefficient use of available water supplies and inequitable
sharing of the resources of a river basin. Such action can result in ill-filling and
serious political controversy.
International rivers, lakes and aquifers form a major part of the global stock of
fresh water. There are over 200 continental river basins which have a direct contact
with the final recipient of water, i.e. an ocean, a closed internal sea, or a lake and
tributary basins and aquifers that are divided by international boundaries. In view of
the critical importance of using water resources efficiently and to meet the present
and prospective demands for water in agriculture, industry and domestic use for
increasing world population, it is incumbent to find ways and means of best use of
international water resources.