Thematic Maps: Visualizing Spatial Variability and Shared ... · Thematic Maps 13 end, we include the following thematic world maps. These ten maps, which include some traditional

Thematic Maps 9

Thematic Maps: VisualizingSpatial Variability and SharedBenefits

SSSSSpatial variability is at the heart of geography, a field dedicated tounderstanding where things are and why. It is also a critical

component in understanding many complex systems, particularlythose which include interactions between wildly disparate sets offorces.

Water systems, for example, can act as a powerfully unifyingresource, so it is ironic to the point of absurdity that water educa-tion, management, and discourse are so fragmented. To truly assesswater resources in their most holistic sense, one needs to includethe many aspects of the hydrologic cycle, from meteorology tosurface hydrology to soil sciences to groundwater to limnology toaquatic ecosystems. And that is just the physical system. One shouldalso have an integral sense of the human dimensions, from eco-nomics to law to ethics to aesthetics to sociology and anthropology.Universities and management institutions are simply not organizedalong these lines; often they are fragmented to the point where evensurface water and groundwater, quality and quantity, are separatedout as if they were not inextricably inter-related.

Fortunately, nature has given us a unit for analysis in which all ofthese components coalesce � the river basin.1 Unfortunately, manyanalysts have a tendency to ignore this hydro-centric unit, especiallywhen including socio-economic or geo-political variables, in favorof units for which one can actually find data, notably the nation-state.2 The fact that water resource issues manifest themselves withinbasins, while analyses are often based on country boundaries, canlead to fundamental misunderstandings. Take, for instance, the mostwidely cited measure for water resources management � Malin

1 A �river basin� is defined as the area which contributes hydrologically (includingboth surface- and groundwater) to a first order stream, which, in turn, is definedby its outlet to the ocean or to a terminal (closed) lake or inland sea. Thus, �riverbasin� is synonymous with what is referred to in the US as a �watershed� and inthe UK as a �catchment.�2 A useful exception is Revenga, C., S. Murray, J. Abrams, and A. Hammond.Watersheds of the World (Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, 1998),which describes 15 biophysical variables for 145 of the world�s major riverbasins.

10 Atlas of International Freshwater Agreements

Figure 5. GIS and visualization: from bottom to top � topography,social water stress index, and country votes on 1997 UN Conven-tion. Green states voted �yes,� red voted �no,� pink �abstained,�and states in white were absent.....

Figure 4. Spatial variation.

Falkenmark�s (1989) Water Stress Index. This index,which divides the volume of available water re-sources for each country by its population, wasoriginally only meant for preliminary, comparativepurposes. Yet, as with many elegant measures, it hastaken on a life of its own, often pointed to in securitystudies as an indicator of future conflict.

The top of Figure 4 shows a river basin shared bytwo nations, neither of which is particularly �waterstressed,� at least if assessed on a national basis.Yet, as presented in the lower figure, when we breakdown the data by basin and further include spatialvariability (in this case, of precipitation), we obtain amuch more accurate picture of the stresses in thelower Colorado River, shared by the United Statesand Mexico.....

By superimposing several different data sets withina Geographic Information System (GIS), unified bythe river basin, one can often increase understandingof the complex systems at work. Figure 5, for ex-ample, superimposes Ohlsson�s Social Water StressIndex (�water stress� essentially weighted for level ofeconomic development by a factor based on UNDP�sHuman Development Index), in the middle layer, overtopography (which shows where the headwaters, damsites, and agricultural land all lie), on the bottomlayer, for the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin. These two

data layers alone allow us to visualize representa-tions of interactions between the location of headwa-ters, economic development, national water scarcity,likely dam sites and agricultural land and, perhaps asa result of these interactions, allow us to gain someinsight into each basin country�s vote in the UNGeneral Assembly on the 1997 Convention on theLaw of the Non-Navigational Uses of InternationalWatercourses (represented in the top layer).

What does this have to do with treaties? What onenotices in the global record of water negotiations isthat many begin with parties basing their initialpositions in terms of rights � the sense that a ripar-ian is entitled to a certain allocation based onhydrography or chronology of use. Up-streamriparians often invoke some variation of the HarmonDoctrine, claiming that water rights originate wherethe water falls. Down-stream riparians often claimabsolute river integrity, claiming rights to an undis-turbed system or, if on an exotic stream, historic rightsbased on their history of use.

In almost all of the disputes that have beenresolved, however, particularly on arid or exoticstreams, the paradigms used for negotiations havenot been �rights-based� at all � neither on relativehydrography nor specifically on chronology of use �but rather �needs-based.� �Needs� are defined byirrigable land, population, or the requirements of a

Thematic Maps 11

American Falls of Niagara River (left). Photo credit: Camille Freitag. Garganta del Diablo in Iguazu Falls. Photo credit: Rolando León.

Iron Creek Falls, Columbia River tributary. Photo credit: Bryan P. Bernart.

specific project. Occasionally, rare agreements gobeyond �needs� to �interests� � the underlyingincentives which influence individual and politicalbehavior, such as the political capital gained throughaddressing a particular set of constituents� waterissues.

In other words, the process of conflict resolutioninvolves understanding the characteristics of a basin,in all of its bio-physical, socio-economic, and geo-political complexity, and then identifying the potentialfor positive-sum solutions based on the disparateinterests of each party. Occasionally, this comprehen-sive approach has allowed riparians to move beyondlooking at water as a commodity to be divided � azero-sum, rights-based approach � and rather todevelop an approach that equitably allocates not thewater, but the benefits derived therefrom � a positive-sum, integrative approach, as seen below:

� Agreements developed under the BoundaryWaters Agreement between Canada and the UnitedStates of America, for example, allocate not water,but equal benefits, usually defined by hydropowergeneration and flood control. This allocation ofbenefits results in the seemingly odd arrangementthat power may be exported out of the basin for gain,but the water itself may not. In the 1964 treaty on theColumbia, an arrangement was worked out wherethe United States paid Canada for the benefits offlood control and Canada was granted rights todivert water between the Columbia and Kootenairivers for hydropower. The relative nature of �benefi-cial� uses is exhibited in a 1950 agreement on theNiagara, which provides a greater flow over thefamous falls during the �show times� of summerdaylight hours, when tourist dollars are worth more

per cubic meter than the alternate use in hydropowergeneration.

� In 1957, the creation of the Mekong Com-mittee for Coordination of Investigations of the LowerMekong Basin was the first example of UN involve-ment in a program to develop an international riverbasin. The new Mekong Agreement was signed in1995, after a relatively short period of negotiationbenefiting from a shared data base, long-establishedrelationships, and the familiarity of the key players


Tigris River tributary. Photo credit: Babak Sedighi.

with the provisions of relevant international jurispru-dence. The Mekong Agreement clearly states themutual commitment to cooperate. It establishes theMekong River Commission as the international bodythat implements the Agreement and seeks coopera-tion on all aspects of water management.

� Despite three wars and numerous skirmishessince 1948, India and Pakistan, with World Banksupport, have managed to negotiate and implementa complex treaty on sharing the waters of the IndusRiver system. The Indus Water Treaty was finallysigned in 1960. During periods of hostility, neitherside targeted the water facilities of the other norattempted to disrupt the negotiated arrangements forwater management.

� The political will to achieve a basin-wideagreement and framework for long-term cooperationon the part of the ten Nile Basin riparian states isgathering momentum. In 1992, representatives of allten states agreed upon a Nile River Basin ActionPlan, with the task of developing a cooperativescheme for the management of the Nile. In 1995, theWorld Bank, together with UNDP and the CanadianInternational Development Agency, accepted therequest from the Nile riparian states to give impetusto the project. In 1999, the Nile Basin Initiative waslaunched, with the participations of all the basinstates. The international community has facilitated anongoing dialogue between the riparians of the NileBasin, to develop a process of joint planning andinstitutional capacity-building.

� The Danube Convention is a vital legalcontinuation of a tradition of regional managementalong the Danube dating back 140 years. As adocument, it provides a legal framework for inte-

grated watershed management and environmentalprotection along a waterway with otherwise wide-spread potential for disputes. The EnvironmentalProgram for the Danube River is also a basin-wideinternational body that actively encourages publicand NGO participation throughout the planningprocess. This proactive stakeholder participation mayhelp preclude future disputes both within countriesand as a consequence, internationally.

� Even while Israel and Jordan were legally atwar, Israeli and Jordanian water officials met severaltimes a year at so called �Picnic Table Talks.� As aresult, when the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty wassigned in 1994, it was possible to include a well-developed annex acknowledging that, �water issuesalong their entire boundary must be dealt with in theirtotality.�

Part of the process of identifying options for jointgains is �simple� visualisation. One needs to be ableto see both the spatial diversity of the problems, andthe unifying forces of the watershed to be able start tocomprehend mutually beneficial trade-offs. To that

Columbia River tributary. Photo credit: Bill Anderson.

Thematic Maps 13

end, we include the following thematic world maps.These ten maps, which include some traditionalhydrologic data, and some less-traditional (as well asless hydrological), are broken down spatially butunified by one delineation � the international river

basin. It is our hope that, by seeing sometimesfamiliar information within these new delineations,these maps may help spark some new approaches toa problem as old as history � how do we share thiscritical resource on which everything we do relies?

Clockwise, from top left: Urubamba River (M. Giordano); Vltava River (S. Yoffe); Tonle Sap (M. Giordano); Entiat River (T. Davis); Meuse River(B. Miraglia); Blue Nile River (B. Bishaw); La Plata River (R. León); Tigris River tributary (B. Sedighi); Amazon River (G. Bracher). Center:Wenatchee River (T. Davis); Congo/Zaire River (D. Thomas).


Num

ber

of A

gree

men

ts p

erIn

tern

atio

nal R

iver

Bas

in

Dat

a so

urce

: Tr

eatie

s- W

olf

(199

9b).

Thematic Maps 15

Gro

ss D

omes

tic P

rodu

ctpe

r C

apita

Dat

a so

urce

: G

DP-

Wor

ld R

esou

rces

199

8-19

99 D

atab

ase

(199

8).


Popu

latio

n D

istr

ibut

ion

Dat

a so

urce

: Po

pula

tion-

Dob

son

et a

l. (2

000)

.

Thematic Maps 17

Dat

a so

urce

s: P

opul

atio

n- D

obso

n et

al.

(200

0);

Den

sity

by

basi

n- F

iske

and

Yof

fe (

2001

).

Popu

latio

n D

ensi

ty p

erIn

tern

atio

nal R

iver

Bas

in


Clim

atic

Reg

ions

Dat

a so

urce

: Kö

ppen

clim

ate

zone

s- F

AO-S

DRN

Agr

omet

eoro

logy

Gro

up (

1997

).

Thematic Maps 19

Land

Cov

er a

nd U

se

Dat

a so

urce

: La

nd c

over

and

use

- U

nite

d St

ates

Geo

logi

cal S

urve

y (U

SGS)

, th

e U

nive

rsity

of

Neb

rask

a-Li

ncol

n (U

NL)

, an

d th

e Eu

rope

an C

omm

issi

on�s

Joi

nt R

esea

rch

Cen

tre (

JRC

) (1

997)

.


Dat

a so

urce

: Irr

igat

ed a

gric

ultu

re-

Döl

l and

Sie

bert

(200

0),

Sieb

ert a

nd D

öll (

2001

).

Irri

gate

d A

reas

,ci

rca

1995

Thematic Maps 21

Dam

Den

sity

per

Inte

rnat

iona

l Riv

er B

asin

Dat

a so

urce

s: D

ams-

Ph.

D.

Asso

ciat

es In

c. (

1998

); D

ensi

ty b

y ba

sin-

Fis

ke a

nd Y

offe

(20

01).


Dat

a so

urce

: Ru

noff-

Fek

ete

et a

l. (2

000)

.

Ave

rage

Ann

ual R

unof

f

Thematic Maps 23

Wat

er S

tres

s pe

rIn

tern

atio

nal R

iver

Bas

in

Dat

a so

urce

s: R

unof

f- Fe

kete

et a

l. (2

000)

; Po

pula

tion-

Dob

son

et a

l. (2

000)

; W

ater

stre

ss b

y ba

sin-

Fisk

e an

d Yo

ffe (

2001

).

Documents

Thematic Maps: Visualizing Spatial Variability and Shared ... · Thematic Maps 13 end, we include the following thematic world maps. These ten maps, which include some traditional