Introduction and Aims

LSE/KCL London Water Research Group (LWRG)

The LWRG gathers international water professionals, activists and scholars from the social and natural sciences to facilitate the analysis of transboundary water management, politics and policy. Taking as the starting point that ‘power’ is a key factor in understanding and informing water policy, we have addressed issues of water allocation and management taking an integrated approach involving modelling, explanatory and activist science. We have made contributions to water science and water policy by showing the relevance of political economy, hydro-politics and international law at the river basin, the regional and the global levels. The group is mostly self financing and this have given rise to a truly independent forum for debate. The overwhelming success of our signature product – the annual hydro-hegemony workshop – testify to our dynamism and capacity.
At present there are over 100 members from more than ten countries. Our analysis provides insight on both 'water wars' (violent conflict) and 'water peace' (cooperation), leading to in-depth probes about water security. We have shown that apparent cooperation between states obscures a world of extreme power asymmetry. This ‘Hydro-Hegemony’ analysis enables the methods adopted by the powerful as well as the hegemonised to be seen more clearly. It shows how coercion, persuasion and the power of ideas are used to create a skewed yet apparently “normal” outcome to shared water relationships. As a result a number of shared water relationships have been described in terms of power relationships, and a variety of corrective strategies are presently being developed.

Towards Effective Cooperation over Transboundary Waters

While power difference is a fact of life, we are convinced that more constructive uses of power and leadership are possible. It is important therefore, to put entrenched modes of behaviour and interests up for discussion and to explore alternatives. Working groups have been established to develop a) methods of challenging hegemony, b) analysing the dynamics of water cooperation, and c) researching basin-level policy implications. The work on cooperation over shared waters is particularly relevant in charting riparian leadership potential in particular basins. The activity focuses on the quality of formal and informal transboundary regimes. The main geographic focus of our work is on the Middle East, North Africa, Southern Africa, Central Asia and Southeastern Asia.

Our Aims

There is a need to qualify transboundary water cooperation because not all cooperation results in the intended outcomes. When there is “partial” cooperation through asymmetric cooperation may engender inequitable sharing of water resources.
It is important to expand the scope of enquiry regarding international water cooperation beyond formal treaties in order to understand what in reality constitutes the processes of negotiation and implementation. How States respond to such cooperative arrangements determines the form and outcome of transboundary water governance.
Riparian relationships, much like interpersonal relationships in a marriage, are likely to involve both conflict and cooperation which ebb and flow over time. Responding to power relations with respect to water sharing may be a continuous process, which the stakeholders themselves need to understand and respond to.
Adopting a power-analytical approach is essential for understanding the process, outcomes and effectiveness of riparian cooperation. The London Water Research Group has provided an important and truly independent forum for discussing very sensitive issues which concern the politics, science, social and governance aspects of water resource use and sharing. The long term vision of the group is to make this forum available to a growing body of academics and practitioners in order to generate independent thought which fundamentally changes the way we look at managing water resources. The group is presently concerned with the process of turning these thoughts into practical tools for action.

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