Implications of the Principles of Equitable and Reasonable Utilization and No-Significant Harm as they Apply to the Nile River Riparian States
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Date
2023-09
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
International watercourses throughout the world have been a source of cooperation and conflict among the states through whose territory they pass. International water law has developed principles that enable all states sharing the watercourse to equitably utilize the water. Two of the fundamental principles governing the non-navigational use of international watercourses among riparian states are the principles of equitable and reasonable utilization and no-significant harm. The issue of which principle should have precedence in their application to the utilization of international watercourses is interpreted divergently among riparian states. The Nile River is one of the most contentious among upper and lower riparian states regarding utilization of the water. As lower riparian states started to utilize the water much earlier than upper riparians, they want to maintain their existing use that allocates them almost all the water. They rely on the argument concerning the precedence of the no-significant harm rule in order to protect their existing use and curb utilization of the water by upper riparians that might affect the water flow they receive. On the other hand, upper riparian states invoke the principles of equitable and reasonable utilization as they are keen to end their exclusion from utilization of the water by challenging the status quo created by lower riparian states. There is neither a comprehensive binding treaty that governs the utilization of the Nile River nor a cooperative framework between all riparian states which enables an equitable utilization of the same. For these reasons, assessing the implication of the principles of equitable and reasonable utilization and no-significant harm in the context of the utilization of the Nile River is the major focus of this thesis. As the major contention over the Nile River concerns the allocation and quantity of the water, the precedence of the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization allows the hitherto excluded riparian states to use the water that passes through their territories, while laying on them the obligation not to cause significant harm to other riparian states.