Challenges of Water Sharing: A Theory and an Application

Ricardo Martinez, Juan Moreno-Ternero, Pengshan Pan and Shlomo Weber

No 21064, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: Since trans boundary rivers support large populations and economic production, the challenge of a fair water sharing became an issue of increasing importance across the world. Yet the existing research which describes various paths of cooperation, treaty formation, and institutional durability, does not offer an operational benchmark and a clear standard against which negotiated allocations can be evaluated. In this paper we study fair protocols resorting to allocation rules with strong normative grounds, connected to the principle of Territorial Integration of all Basin States. We then apply our results to the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers of the Aral Sea Basin, where post-Soviet institutional fragmentation emerged from a previously unified hydraulic system. Our approach accommodates the Aral Basin’s multi-path configuration and allows for computable fairness benchmarks that can guide the evaluation and reform of allocation regimes.

JEL-codes: D23 D63 Q25 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01
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