Progress on Creating a Model Agreement on Transboundary Water Quality Management with Guidelines for the Development of Border Water Quality Standards, Management Plans, and Effective Agreements

The Border International Water Quality Standards Committee of EWRI is developing a major document revision that will add two appendices to the previously published "Comprehensive Transboundary International Water Quality Management Agreement." The new version is tentatively retitled "Comprehensive Transboundary Water Quality Management Model Agreement with Guidelines for the Development of Standards, a Management Plan, and Effective Agreements." The document development follows the established process for ASCE standards, as discussed below. The purpose of the upcoming "Comprehensive Transboundary Water Quality Management Model Agreement (model agreement) with Guidelines for the Development of Standards, Management Plan, and Effective Agreements" is to provide a framework for bi- or multi-lateral agreements that form the policy and regulatory structure for establishing a partnership between sovereign countries or nations (Parties) to provide comprehensive water quality management of shared water resources along or across intergovernmental boundaries. This model agreement and the appendices will provide a step-by-step approach to implementation of an agreement of this type is based on the concept of shared sovereignty. It is appropriate only for those situations in which the Parties are prepared to relinquish a significant degree of sovereignty over their portion of the shared water resource. Work describing the development of the model agreement was previously published.