Governance of a Transboundary River

This book examines the issues at stake in transboundary water governance, it spotlights the Rhône River, a biophysical entity of enormous historical, political and economic importance. The Rhône has long been viewed essentially as a tool for energy production, heavily canalized and exploited by a series of dams and nuclear power plants – with the result that those who live along this great river have simply turned away. 
Basing their work on a detailed analysis of the history and the current management of the Rhône, the authors explore the challenges linked with transboundary river basin governance including relevant international water law, appropriation of river and river resources by Nation States. Finally, they discuss a diverse range of institutional architectures and outlines several solutions that might cope with the growing complexity of transboundary management of a major river. The book will be of interest to scholars in fields such as environment studies, water policy and Natural Resource Management, it also has relevance to water managers and entrepreneurs concerned with staying abreast of developments in water policy and governance.

Christian Bréthaut is an assistant professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He is the Co-Director of the UNESCO Chair in Hydropolitics and leads the Geneva Water Hub’s Research and Education component. His work centres on public policy analysis, institutionalism and political ecology, with a particular interest in water governance. He is currently focusing on transboundary rivers and on governance of the water-food-energy nexus.
Géraldine Pflieger is Professor of Environmental Policy in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She is Co-Director of the UNESCO Chair in Hydropolitics and Director of the University of Geneva’s Institute for EnvironmentalSciences. Her current research interests focus on the regulation of shared and common natural resources.