The World Bank Policy for Projects on International Waterways: An Historical and Legal Analysis

by Salman M. A. Salman, World Bank Staff (Contribution by)

Overview

The World Bank Policy for Projects on International Waterways: An Historical and Legal Analysis discusses the evolution and context of the Bank policy for projects on international waterways. It starts with a brief description of how the Bank faced the challenges stemming from such projects and analyzes the different approaches deliberated by the Bank that led to the issuance of the first policy in 1956. It then examines the main features, as well as the implementation experience, of each of the policies issued in 1956, 1965, and 1985. The principles of international water law prevailing at each stage are reviewed and compared with those of the Bank policy. The book discusses in detail the notification process, the different riparians' responses, and how objections to Bank-financed projects are handled, as well as the exceptions to the notification requirement. It also assesses how the Bank has dealt with transboundary groundwater, and the linkages of the policy with the policies on disputed areas and environmental impact assessment. The book concludes with an overview of the main findings and lessons drawn from the implementation experience.

Salman M. A. Salman is Lead Counsel with the Environmental and International Law Group of the Legal Vice Presidency of the World Bank and the Bank's adviser on water law. He has published extensively on a wide range of issues related to national and international water law and policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821379530
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	06/10/2009
Series:	Law, Justice, and Development Series
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Abstract xi

Acknowledgments xiii

Acronyms and Abbreviations xv

Cases xix

Chapter 1 Facing the Challenges of International Waterways 1

1.1 The Bank's Early Years 1

1.2 Initial Bank Operations on International Waterways 6

1.3 International Water Law in the 1950s 10

Chapter 2 The Search for Policies for Projects on International Waterways 23

2.1 The Bank and the Competing Interests of Riparian States 23

2.2 Early Approaches 25

2.3 Birth of the First Bank Policy (1956) 31

2.4 The 1965 Updates to the 1956 Policy 36

Chapter 3 The Road to the Current Bank Policy 43

3.1 Implementation Experience until 1985 43

3.2 Evolution of International Water Law 1956-1985 51

3.3 The 1985 OMS and the Subsequent Directives 59

3.4 Approaches of other International Financial Institutions 61

Chapter 4 Main Features of the Current Bank Policy 65

4.1 The Pioneering Nature of the Policy 65

4.2 Objectives of the Policy 67

4.3 Waterways Covered under the Policy 78

4.4 Projects Covered under the Policy 88

4.5 Substantive Rules of the Policy 94

Chapter 5 The Notification Process 105

5.1 Basis of the Duty to Notify 105

5.2 Notification: By Whom? 111

5.3 Notification: To Whom? 115

5.4 Content and Timing of Notification 130

5.5 Riparians' Responses 137

Chapter 6 Objections to Bank-Financed Projects 145

6.1 Bank Procedures for Dealing with Objections 145

6.2 Procedures under other International Instruments 148

6.3 Seeking the Opinion of Independent Experts 151

6.4 Bank Procedures for Dealing with Objections and Riparians' own Arrangements 157

Chapter 7 Exceptions to Notification under the Bank Policy 161

7.1 Early Practice 161

7.2Exceptions to the Notification Requirement 162

7.2.1 Rehabilitation of Existing Schemes 162

7.2.2 Water Resources Surveys and Feasibility Studies 173

7.2.3 Projects in a Tributary Exclusively in the Lowest Downstream Riparian 177

Chapter 8 The Bank Policy and Transboundary Groundwater 181

8.1 The ILA Work on Transboundary Groundwater 181

8.2 The ILC Work on Transboundary Groundwater 183

8.3 Transboundary Groundwater under International Agreements 189

8.4 World Bank Approach to Transboundary Groundwater 193

Chapter 9 Linkages of the Policy to other World Bank Policies 203

9.1 Basis for the Linkages with other Policies 203

9.2 Projects in Disputed Areas-Land and Water 204

9.3 Environmental Aspects of Projects on International Waterways 213

Chapter 10 Conclusion 225

Appendices

Appendix 1 OM No. 8-Projects on International Inland Waterways (1956) 237

Appendix 2 OM No. 5. 05-Projects on International Waters (1965) 239

Appendix 3 OMS No. 2.32-Projects on International Waterways (1985) 241

Appendix 4 OD 7.50-Projects on International Waterways (1990) 247

Appendix 5A OP 7.50-Projects on International Waterways (2001) 253

Appendix 5B BP 7.50-Projects on International Waterways (2001) 257

Appendix 5C GP 7.50-Projects on International Waterways 261

Bibliography 263

Index 271