In 1960 the President of Pakistan (Ayub Khan) and Prime Minister of India (Jawaharlal Nehru), with the support of the World Bank, signed the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) giving both countries the rights to have access to the water in the Indus River and tributaries. Pakistan has the rights to water from three western tributaries of the Indus River basin (Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab) and India has the rights to water from three of the eastern tributaries in the Indus River basin (Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas). The treaty states that Pakistan will receive 80% of the water flowing from the Indus River and India receives 20%. The water from the Indus River is used by about 180 million people in Pakistan, 50 million people in India, and 6 million people in Afghanistan. Around 500 million people, about 40% of India’s population receives their water from the Ganges River 1,313km east of the Indus River. 
Before the treaty was created, India was in the same position it is in now to which it could divert the Indus River from entering Pakistan. The IWT is a one-of-a-kind agreement between two countries with different religions working together to share the most valuable resource for human civilization. But since the opening of the Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project in 2018, there have been disputes between the two nations about water diversions from the dam present in the Jhelum River. India and Pakistan have both requested reviews and modifications of the treaty with the most recent coming from India in late August 2024 to resolve disputes regarding the Kishanganga Project. 
The Colorado River is like the Indus River with the growing demand for water resources, public water resources flowing through international borders, and the urgent need to address the effects of climate change on water availability. California is currently the only state in the U.S. that legally declares the access to water as a human right. The UN states that every person has the right to access safe, affordable, and reliable drinking water. So, it is not totally necessary for each state to legally declare water as a human right if it is an international law. But it is necessary to have international cooperation and commitment to live in a world where everyone has access to safe drinking water.
It is wild that water is not considered as a human right world wide. If it were a considered a human right, the government would be seen obligated to give everyone water and they would rather not spare the extra expense. It is unbelievable that so many wars and problems arise due to the lack of clean water. I hope someday we can all agree that people deserve clean water.
ReplyDeleteI find myself taking clean drinking water/water in general for granted. It is insane that this is even a discussion, everyone deserves clean drinking water.
ReplyDeleteThe distribution of that river being 80% to 20% for the other nation seems so unfair. I agree with your final statement, that everyone internationally deserves access to clean water.
ReplyDeleteIt is not hard to consider that access to essential resources such as water should be available to everyone across the globe. While it shouldn't have to be stated as a human right, perhaps if more states adopted it as one like California the water crisis might be taken more seriously
ReplyDeleteWow. This was a very interesting read. It's fascinating how the treaty has held up for so long despite political tensions. But it is also concerning that climate change and human rights to water aren't explicitly addressing in it.
ReplyDeleteWater being fought over like this is concerning. Water is a human right and not a political bargaining tool and countries fight over is not a good sign of what is to come.
ReplyDeleteThe thought of some people not being able to have water, and water scarcity being a real threat for people is kind of scary.
ReplyDeleteGreat insights, Michael! The Indus Waters Treaty is a remarkable example of international cooperation, but it's surprising that it still doesn’t address climate change or the human right to water. The parallels with the Colorado River highlight how urgent transboundary water management is, especially with growing water demands. Do you think the U.S. could learn from the IWT to strengthen its own water agreements with Canada and Mexico?
ReplyDeleteHere in Michigan, where fresh water is highly accessible, we don't really consider how other places may struggle to find clean water to drink. It's extremely sad to think that something so crucial to life is so hard to find in some places!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post. I was really intrigued by the image and the description about who has claim to which rivers. I am sad to hear that they want to renegotiate their agreement based on the Kishanganga project. I hope they can come to a new agreement without making other people suffer without. I also was surprised to see that California was the only state to identify that water is a right. I have always believed that water should be free whether it's in a plastic bottle or not. We need it to live and shouldn't have to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteI understood that droughts and water access are severe problems worldwide, but it such a great thing to bring to our attention. Countries desperately bargaining for a certain fraction of freshwater tributaries is both hopeful and sad to imagine. The United States should be more generous with its plentiful freshwater supply, but I fear the world is only closing itself off and borders are becoming stronger. The ability to share resources and migrate to where they are cleaner and more readily available should be the right of any individual.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog post, I like how the diagrams all lineup and show borders and connecting countries through divides. It is scary how little clean and drinkable water there is, especially with the growing population. The fact that we have yet to find a way to purify salt water for drinking is also scary. Evenetually, we won't have enough clean water for everyone more than we already struggle with.
ReplyDeleteIt's absolutely wild that the United States doesn't officially consider water to be a basic human right in the way other countries do. An issue like this will be relevant in the future as climate changes causes massive sweeping droughts and exacerbates existing scarcity.
ReplyDeleteWhile not all perfect or positive, I found a lot of inspiration in the examples you provided. Specifically the IWT as it shows how countries can come together, even if they feel like direct opposites. I feel like this really helps contextualize what is happening around us and illuminate our possibilities for connection.
ReplyDeleteLiving in a place where clean fresh water is, generally speaking, very accessible to a significant amount of the population, it can be easy to take it for granted. I know that I often have to step back and think about the fresh water I might be wasting. It is always shocking to realize how some people don't consider it enough of a human right to make it equally accessible to everyone.
ReplyDeleteIt makes complete sense for international cooperation to influence necessary distribution of water, which is a resource needed for human survival. It is shocking that these rights weren't mentioned in the treaty, especially with the amount of water that goes polluted by developed countries like the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThe IWT treaty is one of the most important and potentially concerning issues in the world. With climate change and water keeps diminishing it will be harder for India to honor the treaty. The countries all have nuclear weapons - and the threat is over the most basic necessity: water.
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