As we face the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, natural resource management is now more critical than ever—especially in the protection of one of our most precious resources: water.

The stakes of getting it wrong couldn’t be higher: increasing economic inequities and substandard public health for a growing population. And the evidence that such issues have won the attention of political leaders is increasing, with the June 2022 introduction of a White House Action Plan on Global Water Security that links this crucial issue directly to U.S. national security and offers pathways and proposed resources to advance progress broadly on multiple fronts.

At the intersection of these key challenges is the need for a more purposeful transboundary governance of water resources. Some 153 countries share 286 transboundary basins (roughly 60 percent of the world’s freshwater) that require coordinated management to protect and maintain. These basins and nearly 600 transboundary groundwater aquifers provide water for billions of people and sustain the socioeconomic well-being of more than 40 percent of the world’s population. 

The positive benefits of better management of such an essential resource may seem apparent. Yet two-thirds of the world’s transboundary rivers do not have a cooperative management framework. How can we do better?   

A Closer Look at KAZA

One globally significant transboundary region is the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA), which includes one of the last long free-flowing rivers in southern Africa, the Cuando (alternately spelled as ‘Kwando’) River. The river basin spans over 37,000 square miles (96,778 square kilometers) across Angola, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana, and KAZA serves as a critical wildlife dispersal area for iconic species such as elephants, zebras, buffalo, and wildebeests.

As a relatively untouched river that crosses four countries, an effective transboundary governance structure is necessary to maintain the value of the Cuando River basin for the people and species that rely on it. And the structures to do so are receiving the investment and consideration needed to be more effective.

Since 2018, with funding from the U.S. Department of State, a partnership to strengthen transboundary governance of the Cuando River has been created between the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM), the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area Secretariat (KAZA TFCA), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The projects developed by the partners to accomplish these aims include:

State of the Cuando Basin Report: This in-depth assessment of the Cuando Basin’s hydrological, social, environmental, and economic health and status provides shared data and common understandings required for collaborative management and planning. Equipped with the report’s findings, resource managers can make informed decisions that consider the region’s conservation values to preserve the rare, near-pristine basin into the future. The report also strengthens mutual comprehension of the opportunities for a protected Cuando Basin to provide for thriving communities as the basis for a growing economy.

Kwando Joint Action Group (KJAG): The KJAG convenings provided the first dedicated opportunity for dialogue about water resources in Cuando Basin between Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia. The group also served as a forum to exchange information, and discuss areas of concern such as fisheries, irrigation, youth, and women’s engagement. The opportunity for dialogue has led to the critically important harmonization of fisheries management policies between Namibia and Zambia, reducing potential cross-border disagreements and contributing to improved outcomes for the fish populations. This project, alongside complementary efforts in the Cuando Basin funded by USAID, builds towards multiple goals: expanding community food security, increasing capacity for water resource management and climate adaptation, and scaling investable water- and ecosystem-related projects. The shared foundational understanding by all four countries of the current basin status, combined with an actionable vision for future protection and development based on transparent data, will offer longevity long beyond the projects’ close.

A Global Urgency to Act

These efforts in the Cuando Basin highlight the need for additional assessments in river basins around the world. As no two rivers are alike, individual assessments will determine the management needed to effectively protect and maintain each transboundary resource.  

Specific investment is needed in priority regions to elevate the importance of inclusive transboundary basin management and governance where it is needed most. These global regions include other areas of KAZA, the Lower Mekong River, the Amazon, the Upper Paraguay River (which feeds the Pantanal wetland), and the Eastern Himalayas basins. Building on this model for investments would provide the technical and political support needed to ensure long-term sustainable river management and protection, as well as contribute to economic and national security. 

Cooperative shared management between nations has a variety of benefits, including economic and geopolitical stability, sustainable use and development, potential for innovation such as in water storage and distribution, and resource mobilization.  Additionally, as water resources become more strained due to climate change, nations need to understand and maintain sustainable water use, and identify opportunities to leverage water as a solution to climate change. In a recent review of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), freshwater resources were identified as a priority area for adaptation in over 80% of the NDCs. Climate adaptation solutions depend on maintaining freshwater resources, and the freshwater found in shared waterways depends on transboundary coordination.

Freshwater ecosystems and species that rely on transboundary waters can also suffer without good governance. River connectivity is an important part of river health, enabling the movement of water and sediment that supports drinking water, inland fisheries, floodplain agriculture, and delta replenishment. Integrated transboundary planning approaches for energy and transportation infrastructure are critical to assessing impacts at the basin level and avoiding the fragmentation of the world’s remaining free-flowing rivers. 

A Vision for Positive Management

Multiple barriers to sustainable development in transboundary basins stand in the way of progress, including competing national priorities, existing conflicts between countries, and inadequate stakeholder engagement in governance structures. Yet overcoming those obstacles and implementing transboundary water governance will yield significant benefits.

For example, vulnerable countries hit hard by climate change as well as the COVID-19 crisis can directly benefit from transboundary governance agreements that integrate nature-based climate solutions and reinforce the resources that allow for strong economies and human development. Additionally, cooperative arrangements in transboundary basins allow for more effective adaptation to changing conditions. Greater engagement and communication through data-sharing, along with the inclusion of more voices in the decision-making process, leads to greater adoption and involvement at the regional level.  

Transboundary governance of shared water resources is essential to meeting the world’s most pressing challenges. It serves to reduce the likelihood of international conflicts, ensures shared investment and engagement on resource management and conservation, and improves the well-being of communities living along the transboundary waterway.

Through shared visions for sustainable development at the systems level, platforms for inclusive dialogue across stakeholder groups, sustainable finance, and tools like basin report cards and other environmental assessments, national leaders can invest in the longevity of water. It’s critical for governments to recognize the value of protecting their shared waterways and coordinate to effectively maintain these shared resources, while they still can.