Report.2015

Measuring Results in Transboundary Water Management

Nearly half of the world’s freshwater flows across political boundaries. International cooperation is necessary to ensure that the water resources of a transboundary river basin are equitably shared between upstream and downstream userswith different, and sometimes conflicting, needs, claims andcultures. Joint management of transboundary waters cancontribute to peace, prosperity and sustainable development.However, these links are often vague and their effects difficult to measure.

Cooperation in transboundary basins requires sustainedsupport, allowing for development of collaborative structures and institutions on both national and regional levels.This process is inevitably time-consuming and most oftentranscends the lifetime of a single project. As bilateral aid donors increasingly focus on the actual results generated, adeeper understanding is needed of results in Transboundary Water Management (TWM), how they can be measured, and how potential benefits can be secured through enhanced risk management.

March 2015