Implications of hydro-political dependency for international water cooperation and conflict: Insights from new data

• Published in: Political geography Vol. 42; pp. 23 - 33
• Main Authors: Beck, Lucas, Bernauer, Thomas, Siegfried, Tobias, Böhmelt, Tobias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2014; Butterworth-Heinemann
• Subjects: Accumulation; Bgi / Prodig; Boundaries; Conceptualization; Conflict; Elevation models; Empirical Methods; Flow accumulation approaches; Geography; Human geography; Hydro-political dependencies; Hydrological data; Hydrology; International Conflict; International Cooperation; Measurement; New geo-spatial data; Political and economic geography; Political geography; Quantitative analysis; Quantitative Methods; Riparian Rights; Rivers; Flow accumulation approaches; Hydrological data; Elevation models; New geo-spatial data; Hydro-political dependencies; Quantitative analysis; Conflict; Cooperation; Geopolitics; Watershed; Spatial analysis; Political geography; Data; Water resources
• ISSN: 0962-6298; 1873-5096
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.05.004

Hydro-political dependencies between countries are widely regarded as having important implications for international water cooperation and conflict. Quantitative ex-post empirical research on the subject so far uses very simple characterizations of international river geography to proxy for such dependencies, though. The authors developed a new geo-spatial dataset for water catchments worldwide. This dataset combines elevation models, flow accumulation approaches, hydrological data, and data on international boundaries to generate more precise and nuanced measures of hydro-political dependencies among riparian countries. The paper discusses these measurement concepts, illustrates how dependencies are distributed worldwide, and revisits three prominent quantitative studies on the issue to show how using improved data affects empirical findings. In contrast to a very popular presumption, upstream–downstream dependencies turn out to have a very small to insignificant effect on international water cooperation or conflict. •Hydro-political dependencies are widely assumed to influence international water cooperation and conflict.•We introduce a new geo-spatial dataset that generates more nuanced measures of hydro-political dependencies.•We replicate and expand on existing quantitative studies on the issue, based on the new data.•Upstream–downstream dependencies turn out to have a very small to insignificant effect on water cooperation or conflict.