In Following the Proper Channels: Tributaries in the Mekong Legal Regime, Bennett Bearden offers in-depth policy and legal analyses of the marginalization of tributaries in the context of the 1995 Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin, law of international watercourses, hydrosovereignty, and the national economic development interests of the Mekong riparians. As a problem-based study, enlightening conclusions are made based on the increasingly state-centric nature of water resources management in the Mekong region through pursuit of national agendas in the unilateral and bilateral development of tributaries. The overarching legal and hydropolicy issue is whether states can simultaneously pursue hydrosovereignty on tributaries and ensure the Mekong legal regimeâs efficacy to achieve holistic water resources management and basin-wide governance.
Bennett L. Bearden, J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. (2011), McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, is Director of the Water Policy and Law Institute at The University of Alabama. He has published several articles on water policy and legal issues and has served as Special Counsel to the Governor of Alabama (USA) on Water Law and Policy (2013-2017).
Acknowledgments Abstract List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations List of Legislative Materials List of Cases
Introduction
1 The Mekong River Basin
â1.1âPhysical Setting
â1.2âGeology and Geomorphology
â1.3âClimate
â1.4âWater Resources
â1.5âMekong Tributaries
ââ1.5.1Tributaries in the Context of Holistic Water Resources Management
â1.6âChapter 1 Conclusion
2 Legal and Institutional Framework
â2.1âThe Mekong Legal Regime: 1957â1995
ââ2.1.11957â1975: The Mekong Committee, the 1957 Mekong Statute, and the Water Charter
ââ2.1.21975â1978: The Joint Declaration
ââ2.1.31978â1995: The Interim Mekong Committee
â2.2â1995-Present: The 1995 Mekong Agreement
ââ2.2.1The Mekong River Commission (mrc)
ââ2.2.2National Interests and Water Law
ââ2.2.3The Role of International Water Law
ââ2.2.4Waterscapes
ââ2.2.5Salient Provisions of the 1995 Mekong Agreement
ââ2.2.6The Sustainable Development Paradigm
ââ2.2.7Balancing Water Quality and Water Quantity in the Mekong Regime
â2.3âChapter 2 Conclusion
3 A Retrospective Look at Tributary Watercourse Law in the Mekong and Other Selected Legal Regimes
â3.1âEvolution of Article 5(A) in the Mekong Legal Regime
â3.2âTributary Watercourse Law in Other Selected Legal Regimes
ââ3.2.1The 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty (us and Canada)
ââ3.2.2The 1961 Columbia River Treaty (us and Canada) and the Okanagan River Basin
ââ3.2.3A Community of Interest in Mekong Tributaries? The Influence of the River Oder and the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros (Hungary/Slovakia) Cases
ââ3.2.4Arizona v. California
ââ3.2.5The Nigeria-Niger Tributary Agreement
â3.3âChapter 3 Conclusion
4 Mekong Tributaries: Selected Case Studies
â4.1âHydropower Development on the Sesan River
ââ4.1.1The Sesan River
ââ4.1.2Development of the Yali Falls Dam
â4.2âThe Thai Water Grid
â4.3âThe Legal and Scientific Imperatives for De-marginalizing Tributaries in the Mekong Legal Regime: Dams, Water Diversions, Biogeography, and the Evolving Contours of Climate Change
â4.4âChapter 4 Conclusion
5 The Mekong: The Archetypal Dissevered River Basin
â5.1âIntroduction: The Dissevered River Basin Concept
â5.2âChapter 5 Conclusion
6 A Flawed Vision? Deficiencies in the Mekong Legal Regime
â6.1âLearning to Get Along: China and the LMRB
â6.2âThe View Downstream: eias
â6.3âThe Transparency Issue: Stakeholder Participation and Access to Information
â6.4âCrossing the Rubicon: Dispute Resolution
â6.5âThe Mekong Legal Regime Viewed through the Lens of the un Watercourses Convention
â6.6âChapter 6 Conclusion
7 Conclusion: Demarginalizing Mekong Tributaries and Shifting the Transformation of the Mekong Water Resources Spectrum ParadigmâA Proposal for the Way Ahead