Improving Legal Structures and Policies to Address the Water Conflicts in the Volta River Basin: Lessons from the International Joint Commission
Date
2013-01-15
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Abstract
The Volta River Basin (VRB) in West Africa is facing water conflicts that include water quantity, water quality, pollution, flooding, and competition for water for hydroelectric power generation and water for irrigation. The VRB’s six riparian nations; Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Togo, created a legal regime called the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) to address the water conflicts. However, the VBA has failed to address the water conflicts as it is plagued by deficiencies in its legal structures and policies. The International Joint Commission (IJC) on the other hand, has successfully addressed the boundary waters disputes between the United States and Canada. The IJC’s success has been aided by its exercise of its Reference Jurisdiction mandate that has allowed it to use flexibility to investigate and report on questions referred to it by the governments of the United States and Canada. This thesis seeks to identify the factors that have assisted the IJC’s successful use of flexibility under its Reference Jurisdiction mandate. It assesses the VBA as presently constituted and finds that it lacks an IJC-type independent fact-finding body that is equipped with flexible Reference Jurisdiction-type powers. The thesis suggests that incorporating an IJC-type structure with a flexible Reference Jurisdiction-type mandate into the VBA would assist the VBA to better address the water conflicts in the VRB. As well, the thesis recommends changes to the VBA’s other legal structures and policies to assist it to better deal with the water conflicts in the VRB.
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Law
Citation
Ampofo-Boateng, K. (2013). Improving Legal Structures and Policies to Address the Water Conflicts in the Volta River Basin: Lessons from the International Joint Commission (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26490