Political and international implications of integrated water resources management of transboundary river basins: the case of Axios/Vardar River basin.

Abstract

The political rivalries over the water resources are highly increased due to their scarcity, several types of pollution, increasing water consumption and several environmental shifts. These tensions are a result of the great number of transboundary river basins worldwide (261). The international institutions promote a remarkable legal framework in order to regulate those dimensions amongst the riparian states. The new EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60 and the decisions of Helsinki convention could be the road map for integrated water resources management (IWRM). In Greece the main renewable resources are “imported” and for this reason the necessity of an IWRM is obvious and a hard task at the same time. This dissertation focuses on the Axios/Vardar river basin and examines the possibility of a possible transnational cooperation in respect of the international law framework.