Transboundary River Basins. Status and Trends

The water systems of the world — aquifers, lakes, rivers, large marine ecosystems, and open ocean — sustain the biosphere and underpin the health and socioeconomic wellbeing of the world’s population. Many of these systems are shared by two or more nations. These transboundary waters, stretching over 71% of the planet’s surface, in addition to the subsurface aquifers, comprise humanity’s water heritage. Recognizing the value of transboundary water systems, and the reality that many of them continue to be overexploited and degraded, and managed in fragmented ways, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) initiated the Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme (TWAP). The Programme aims to provide a baseline assessment to identify and evaluate changes in these water systems caused by human activities and natural processes, as well as the consequences these changes may have on the human populations dependent upon them. The institutional partnerships forged in this assessment are also envisioned to seed future transboundary assessments. The final results of the GEF TWAP are presented in the following six volumes: Volume 1 – Transboundary Aquifers and Groundwater Systems of Small Island Developing States: Status and Trends Volume 2 – Transboundary Lakes and Reservoirs: Status and Trends Volume 3 – Transboundary River Basins: Status and Trends Volume 4 – Large Marine Ecosystems: Status and Trends Volume 5 – The Open Ocean: Status and Trends Volume 6 – Transboundary Water Systems: Crosscutting Status and Trends A Summary for Policy Makers accompanies each volume. This document — Volume 3 Summary for Policy Makers — showcases the first truly global baseline assessment of the world’s 286 transboundary river basins that include 151 countries, and in which more than 40% of the earth’s population live.   to read volume 3 please click on TRANSBOUNDARY RIVER BASIN