New database on River Basin Organizations Launched on OSU's TFDD website

Please check out the announcement concerning the release of my friend Susanne Schmeier's research on river basin organizations. Her database is impressive.

Official Announcement for the International River Basin Organization Database on Oregon State University’s Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database.

As the 2013 International Year of Water Cooperation is wrapping up, the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (TFDD) team at Oregon State University is pleased to announce the launch of the International River Basins Organization Database. This large source of information on river basin organizations (RBOs) was collected and organized by Dr. Susanne Schmeier, and will be included alongside our existing datasets on international river basins, international freshwater agreements and treaties, and international water events.

Many innovative approaches developed during the 2013 Year of Water Cooperation are designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of water resources development. RBOs have been assigned crucial roles in this development. RBOs are asked to provide forums for addressing disagreements over shared waters as well as platforms for joint decision-making and to acquire, analyze, and share data among riparian states, as well as other stakeholders. This gives the basis for successful water resources management to develop river basin management plans and implement related programs or projects. Through this, RBOs also provide an interface for scientists to interact with policy makers in developing the best solutions to water-related challenges, especially in times of global change.

Within this searchable RBO database, detailed information is provided for over 120 international RBOs around the world, including information on each functional scope, decision making and information sharing mechanisms, dispute resolution mechanisms, funding and cost sharing mechanisms, as well as public participation mechanisms and many other parameters. The dataset is complemented by a paper summarizing key findings across all of the world’s RBOs as well as a comprehensive reference list on primary RBO documents describing each RBO’s organizational set-up.

You can access the database here: http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/research/RBO/index.html

A more detailed analysis of RBOs and their institutional design as well as their contributions to effective river basin governance can be found in a related publication: Schmeier, Susanne (2013): Governing International Watercourses. River Basin Organizations and the Sustainable Governance of Internationally Shared Rivers and Lakes, London: Routledge, http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415623582/

Yours sincerely,

The TFDD Team