by Thomas Belknap

Created on: March 14, 2009   Last Updated: October 06, 2010

Saturday, March 22nd will mark World Water Day, an observance founded by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 as a day for nations to discuss issues surrounding water conservation and usage. Each year, a central theme is developed to focus the discussion and action among nations. This year, the theme of World Water Day is transborder waterways.

A transborder waterway is a body of water that either defines or crosses a border between nations. Rivers and lakes have often been traditional borders between lands, and the United Nations counts 263 lakes and rivers separating 145 countries across the globe. Human reliance on fresh water makes maintaining safe access to these waterways vital to global security and stability. Disputes over waterways are common in history, but the WWD conference is meant to try to foster cooperation as an alternative to conflict.

The concern among experts is that modern pressures may eventually force an increase in hostilities between nations. Global populations continue to rise, which means developing nations will continue to need more fresh water to keep their citizens healthy. Studies show that global warming is melting ice flows critical to providing fresh water to over a million people in Tibet and the Indian Subcontinent. Rapid economic growth in China has led to pollution of waterways there and in neighboring nations. Many more such issues are forcing leaders of nations across the globe to consider what steps need to be taken to resolve their water supply issues.

So much is the concern over water issues that NATO, the United States Department of State and the Southern African Development Community all consider foreign policy at least to some degree through this lens. The US State Department has listed a number of environmental concerns - many of which are freshwater-related - as primary concerns of US diplomacy since 1999. Transboundary waterways are specifically cited.

As many as 10,000 participants are expected to arrive in Istanbul for a World Water Day conference which will unveil what the UN says will be a new and authoritative document on global fresh water issues, the World Water Development Report. Questions remain, however, for European leaders as to the soundness of the reporting or the effectiveness of the gathering. Peter Gammeltoft of the European Commission White Paper task force is quoted as saying, bluntly, that the issue is "a bigger problem outside Europe."

Events and activities have been happening across the globe since February, from symposiums at the United Nations headquarters in New York to a "Walk for Water" held in Karnataka, India. Concerts and art exhibits have also been planned. To see the complete list of events, go to the UNWater.org website's calendar.

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