South America deal to share huge aquifer swamped by politics
South America deal to share huge aquifer swamped by politics
Mon Oct 24, 2016 | 10:56am EDT
By Chris Arsenault
RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Hailed as the gold standard for sharing natural resources, a landmark deal between four countries to manage one of the world's largest aquifers has stalled, Brazilian and Argentinian officials said, raising questions over how states will handle disputes over increasingly valuable fresh water.
Six years ago, the U.N. welcomed an agreement between Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina to manage the Guarani Aquifer, South America's largest underground source of fresh water, spanning more than 1 million square kilometers (386,000 sq miles).
While land can be easily demarcated with property titles, disputes over cross-border water sources are harder to resolve, leading diplomats to place a high value on resource-sharing agreements.
The world is expected to face a 40 percent shortfall in water availability by 2030, according to the U.N.
More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-latam-environment-landrights-analysis-idUSKCN12O1S2?rpc=401
LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141605905