Transboundary water resources in the former Soviet Union: Between conflict and cooperation

Natural Resources Journal

Volumn 36, Issue 2 PART 1, 1996, Pages 393-414

  Vinogradov, Sergei ^a,b,c,d  

^a MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY   (Russian Federation)

^b RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES   (Russian Federation)

^c UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE   (United Kingdom)

^d Water Resources Committee

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 21444437684     PISSN: 00280739     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (115)

1. See, e.g., S.L. Udall & R.G. Varady, Environmental Conflict and the World's New International Borders, 7 CIRT TRANSBOUNDARY RESOURCES REPORT 5-6 (1993).
2. See 8 THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA 591 (15th ed.) [hereinafter NEB].
3. THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA Id. v. 12, at 601.
4. THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA Id. v. 18, at 846-47;
5. THE NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA id. v. 4, at 141;
6. see also 5 BROCKHAUS ENZYKLOPÄDIE 570 (1988) [hereinafter BROCKHAUS].
7. See 4 NEB, supra note 2, at 141.
8. Id. at 174.
9. See 7 NEB, supra note 2, at 39.
10. See 1 NEB, supra note 2, at 518.
11. The classification of the Caspian is a complicated issue. It is defined as an "inland sea", for example. See 2 NEB, supra note 2, at 612. The Food and Agriculture Organization's ("FAO") Systematic Index also qualifies the Caspian sea as an "inland sea." See FAO, Systematic Index of International Water Resources Treaties, Declarations, Acts and Cases by Basin, in 2 LEGISLATIVE STUDY NO. 34, at 287 (1984). Notably, however, the Caspian Sea is included in the list of "Major Lakes of the World."
12. WATER IN CRISIS 161-65 (P.H. Gleick Ed., 1993) (Table B.10). One expert from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO has asserted that "from an oceanographic point of view (composition of water, fauna, flora) the Caspian Sea should be considered as a sea. In fact, the Caspian Sea is a relict marine basin."
13. See Minutes of the Meeting on Cooperation of UN Organizations in the Caspian Sea Initiative 5 (Jan. 17, 1995) (on file with the author).
14. For a detailed analysis of the legal issues regarding the Caspian Sea, see S. Vinogradov & P. Wouters, The Caspian Sea: Current Legal Problems, 55 ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR AUSLÄNDISCHES ÖFFENTLICHES RECHT UND VÖLKERRECHT 604-23 (1995);
15. S. Vinogradov & P. Wouters, The Caspian Sea: Quest for a New Legal Regime, 9 LEIDEN J. INT'L L. (forthcoming 1996).
16. According to some estimates, the total recoverable resources of the Caspian Sea are 7,000 MMt of oil and condensate and 5 Tcm of natural gas. See BUSINESS MOSCOW NEWS, Nov. 9, 1994, at 12,
17. cited in J.P. Dorian & P.S. Kort, Russian Dominance Over "Near Abroad" Linked to Energy, EAST-WEST CENTER WORKING PAPER, ENERGY & MINERAL SERIES NO. 21, SEPT. 1995, at 13.
18. See EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION PROJECT FOR THE CASPIAN SEA AND ITS CATCHMENT AREA, SITUATION ANALYSIS AND PROJECT PROPOSAL 5 (1994).
19. Id. at 9.
20. Geographically, the Ural River basin belongs both to the European and Asian parts of the FSU, as it straddles the imaginary line separating Europe from Asia.
21. See, e.g., 12 NEB, supra note 2, at 194.
22. Id. v. 6, at 392; 10 BROCKHAUS, supra note 4, at 646.
23. See 6 NEB, supra note 2, at 406.
24. Id. v. 11, at 813.
25. See 6 NEB, supra note 2, at 392; 10 BROCKHAUS, supra note 4, at 646.
26. See generally UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME, THE ARAL SEA, DIAGNOSTIC STUDY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ACTION PLAN FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THE ARAL SEA (1993) [hereinafter THE ARAL SEA, DIAGNOSTIC STUDY].
27. The Aral drainage basin includes also parts of northern Afghanistan and northeastern Iran. THE ARAL SEA, DIAGNOSTIC STUDY, supra note 19, at 3.
28. P.R. Craumer, Agricultural Change, Labor Supply, and Rural Out-Migration in Soviet Central Asia, in R.A. LEWIS, GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES ON SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA 35 (1992).
29. THE ARAL SEA, DIAGNOSTIC STUDY, supra note 19, at 18.
30. See 1 NEB, supra note 2, at 358; see also THE ARAL SEA, DIAGNOSTIC STUDY, supra note 19, at 20-21.
31. See 11 NEB, supra note 2, at 468; see also THE ARAL SEA, DIAGNOSTIC STUDY, supra note 19, at 21-26.
32. See M. H. Glantz, Creeping Environmental Phenomena in the Aral Sea Basin, Paper Presented at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's International Workshop, Critical Scientific Issues of the Aral Sea Basin: State of Knowledge and Future Research Needs 20 (May 2-5, 1994);
33. A. Giroux, Les Etats d'Asie Centrale Face à l'Indépendance: Ouzbekistan, République Kirghize, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, LE COURRIER DES PAYS DE L'EST, Apr. 1994, at 6.
34. Since 1960, the area of the Aral Sea has decreased by fifty percent from 66,900 to around 33,000 km2 and its volume fell by seventy-four percent from 1090 to 280 km3. Salinity has risen from ten to around thirty grams per liter. See The ARAL SEA, DIAGNOSTIC STUDY, supra note 19, at 53-57;
35. see also P. Micklin, The Aral Crisis: Introduction to the Special Issue, 33 POST-SOVIET GEOGRAPHY 275 (1992).
36. P. Sinnot, The Physical Geography of Soviet Central Asia and the Aral Sea Problem, in R.A. LEWIS, GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES ON SOVIET CENTRAL ASIA 87 (1992).
37. "Basic Provisions of the Concept concerning Solution of the Problems of the Aral Sea, its Coastal Area and the Aral Sea Basin with Respect to Social and Economic Development of the Region," adopted by the Decision of the Heads of Central Asian states and the Government of Russian Federation (the latter as observer), Jan. 11, 1994, in Nukus, at 10 (on file with the author) [hereinafter Basic Provisions].
38. This study focuses on the water-related legal developments between the NIS only. It does not address relations between the NIS and the states-neighbors of the FSU (such as Finland, Poland, China, etc.), nor does it consider multilateral international regimes relevant to the topic, such as the 1974 and 1992 Conventions on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area and the 1992 Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution. Both regimes prescribe measures relating to land-based pollution, including pollution through inflowing rivers.
39. For a more detailed summary of the environment-related cooperation within the CIS, see S. Vinogradov & A. Tranin, CIS: INTERSTATE RELATIONS IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, GOSUDARSTVO I PRAVO [STATE AND LAW], No 12, 1994, at 37-45 (in Russian).
40. Charter of the Commonwealth of Independent States, June 22, 1993, 34 I.L.M. 1279 (1995) [hereinafter Charter of the Commonwealth].
41. Id. at 1283.
42. Id. at 1284.
43. Charter of the Commonwealth, art. 19, supra note 31, at 1288.
44. See Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Ecology and Protection of the Natural Environment, Feb. 8, 1992, in 1 BYULLETEN' MEZHDUNARODNYKH DOGOVOROV [BULLETIN OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS] 8-12 (1993) (in Russian). The Agreement was signed by the following NIS: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizstan, Moldova, Russia, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Id.
45. Id. at preamble.
46. Id. at art. 1.
47. Id. at art. 2.
48. Id. at art. 4.
49. Id. at art. 4.
50. Id. at art. 5.
51. Id. at arts. 5, 6.
52. Minutes of the First Session, Interstate Ecological Council at 9-10 (1992)(in Russian) (on file with the author) [hereinafter IEC Minutes I].
53. Id.
54. The following sessions of the IEC have been convened to date: July 1, 1992, Minsk (Byelorussia); Oct. 2, 1992, Almaty (Kazakhstan); 3rd-May 1993, Tashkent (Uzbekistan); Nov. 4, 1993, Minsk; 5th-September 1994, Moscow (Russia); June 6, 1995, Minsk.
55. IEC Minutes I, supra note 43.
56. Minutes of the Third Session, Interstate Ecological Council, Supp. 14, at 27-28 (1993) (in Russian) (on file with the author).
57. Id. at art. 1.
58. Id. at art. 3.
59. Id. at art. 2.
60. The Protocol was drafted by Moldova and initialed at the second session of the IEC. However, due to significant substantive and redactional defects of the text, it had to be redrafted, although the final version of the Protocol retained its major shortcomings. Interestingly, Moldova did not sign the Protocol, nor did it participate in the sessions of the IEC.
61. Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Turkmenistan abstained from signing the supplementary protocols and from participation in the IEC. However, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova took part in the work of the fifth session of the IEC.
62. See IEC Minutes I, supra note 43.
63. See Sergei Vinogradov & Patricia Wouters, The Caspian Sea: Quest for a New Legal Regime, 9 LEIDEN J. INT'L L. (1996).
64. Agreement on Cooperation in the Management, Utilization and Protection of Interstate Water Resources, Feb. 18, 1992, Kazakhstan-Kirghizstan-Tadjikistan-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan (in Russian) (on file with the author).
65. Id. at art. 1.
66. Id. at art. 2.
67. Id. at art. 3.
68. Id. at art. 4.
69. Id. at art. 5.
70. Id. at art. 6.
71. Id. at art. 7.
72. Id. at art. 10.
73. Id. at art. 11.
74. Id. at art. 12.
75. Id. at art. 8.
76. Basic Provisions, supra note 28, at 10.
77. See supra note 55, at art. 8. See also Statute (Regulations) of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination, Tashkent, December 5, 1992 (on file with the author).
78. Information on the current activities of the ICWC and BVOs was provided to the author at a NATO International Workshop in Tashkent, Critical Scientific Issues of the Aral Sea Basin: State of Knowledge and Future Research Needs (May 2-5, 1994).
79. NATO International Workshop in Tashkent, Critical Scientific Issues of the Aral Sea Basin: State of Knowledge and Future Research Needs (1994). Id.
80. Agreement on Joint Actions for Addressing the Problems of the Aral Sea and its Coastal Area, Improving of the Environment and Ensuring the Social and Economic Development of the Aral Sea Region, March 26, 1993, Kazakhstan-Kirghizstan-Tadjikistan-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Russia (with Russia as observer) (in Russian) (on file with the author).
81. Id. at art. 1.
82. Id. at art. 2.
83. Id.
84. The Statutes (Regulations) of the ICAS and its Executive Council were adopted on July 13, 1993 and subsequently approved by the Heads of State on January 11, 1994 at the meeting in Nukus (on file with the author).
85. Statutes of the ICAS, supra note 75, at para. 1.
86. Id. at para. 8.
87. Id. at para. 5.
88. See Statute of the ICAS Executive Council, supra note 75.
89. The decision to create the IFAS was taken by the Heads of the Aral basin states on January 4, 1993. The Statute (Regulations) of the Fund was adopted at a meeting in Kzyl-Orda on February 26, 1993 (on file with the author).
90. Basic Provisions, supra note 28, and the "Program of actions aimed at improving the environmental situation in the Aral Sea basin over the next 3-5 years with respect to social and economic development of the region" [hereinafter Program of Actions] were adopted by the Decision of the Heads of Central Asian states and the Government of Russian Federation (the latter as observer), January 11, 1994, in Nukus (on file with the author).
91. See Basic Provisions, supra note 28, at 10.
92. Id.
93. See Basic Provisions, supra note 28, at 10; Program of Actions, supra note 28, at para. 8.
94. Some Central Asian politicians assume that Russia still owes them Siberian river water, regarding the Aral Sea crisis as a legacy of the FSU.
95. D. Caponera, Legal and Institutional Framework for the Management of the Aral Sea Basin Water Resources, in REPORT FOR THE EU- TACIS PROGRAMME, WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS 26 (1995).
96. Id. (emphasis in original).
97. Id.
98. Id. at 27-29.
99. Id. at 30-33.
100. The European Union is currently implementing a project aimed at improving the administrative, institutional and technical framework within which the Aral Sea basin states can develop policies, strategies and development programs for utilization, allocation and management of the water resources of the basin. See European Union Technical Assistance to the Economic Reform in the New Independent States Water Resource Management and Agricultural Production in the Central Asian Republics (1994). The World Bank, UNEP, and UNDP provide technical and financial support to the plan of actions addressing the Aral Sea crisis of the five Central Asian states. See, e.g., World Bank Preparation Mission, Aral Sea Program-Phase 1, Aide-Memoire (Feb. 22-Mar. 19, 1994). Assistance in legal and institutional fields is a major component of both programs.
101. Agreement on the Joint Utilization and Protection of Transboundary Water Objects, Aug. 27, 1992, Russian Fed.-Kazakhstan [hereinafter Russian-Kazakh Agreement] (on file with the author); Agreement on the Joint Utilization and Protection of Transboundary Water Objects, Oct. 19, 1992, Russian Fed.-Ukraine [hereinafter Russian-Ukrainian Agreement] (on file with the author).
102. The agreements contain different definitions of transboundary water objects. Under the Russian-Kazakh agreement they mean "any surface water objects or underground waters, which form, cross the interstate borders or straddle them." Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 1. The Russian-Ukrainian agreement contains a rather confusing definition of the same term, described as "the parts of rivers and of other surface watercourses, which form the interstate border; the surface and underground waters in the points, crossed by the interstate border." Russian-Uknarainian Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 1).
103. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 4.; Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at art. 3.
104. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 8; Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at art. 6.
105. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 10; Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at art. 6.
106. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 5; Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at art. 4.
107. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 9; Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at art. 6.
108. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 5; Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at art. 2.
109. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 3. Surprisingly, the Russian-Ukrainian agreement does not contain a general obligation to take pollution prevention measures, except in emergency situations. Russian-Ukrainian Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 6.
110. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at art. 7; Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at art. 5.
111. Russian-Kazakh Agreement, supra note 92, at arts. 11-13.
112. Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at arts. 13-16.
113. Russian-Kazakh agreement, supra note 92, at art. 2.
114. Russian-Kazakh agreement, supra note 92, at art. 4.
115. Russian-Ukrainian agreement, supra note 92, at arts. 7, 11, 12.