Indicator 6.5.2 Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation

Indicator 6.5.2: Proportion of transboundary basin area with an operational arrangement for water cooperation

Target 6.5: By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO-IHP)

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

Definition:

The indicator monitors the “transboundary basin” area within a country covered by an “operational” “arrangement for water cooperation”.

A “transboundary basin” refers to a river or lake basin, or an aquifer system that marks, crosses or is located on boundaries between two or more states. A basin comprises the entire catchment area of a surface water body (river or lake), or for groundwater, the area of the aquifer, i.e. the entire permeable water-bearing geological formation. For the purpose of calculating the value of SDG indicator 6.5.2 the transboundary basin area is the extent of the catchment area (river or lake basin); or the extent of the aquifer.

“Arrangement for water cooperation” refers to a bilateral or multilateral treaty, convention, agreement or other formal arrangement, such as memorandum of understanding between countries sharing transboundary basins that provides a framework for cooperation on transboundary water management. Agreements or other kinds of formal arrangements may be interstate, intergovernmental, interministerial, interagency or between regional authorities.

“Operational” means that an agreement for cooperation between the countries sharing transboundary basins meets all the following four criteria:

- There is a joint body or mechanism (e.g. a river basin organization) for transboundary cooperation;

- There are regular, i.e., at least annual, formal communications between riparian countries in form of meetings (either at the political and/or technical level);

- There is a joint or coordinated water management plan(s), or joint objectives have been set;

- There is a regular, i.e., at least annual, exchange of data and information.

Concepts:

The monitoring has as its basis the spatial coverage of transboundary basins shared by each country, and focuses on monitoring whether these are covered by cooperation arrangements that are “operational”. The criteria to be met for the cooperation on a specific basin to be considered “operational” seek to capture whether the arrangement(s) provides the basic elements needed to allow that arrangement to implement cooperation in water management.

Basin area, in km², covered by operational arrangements.

At the country level, ministries and agencies responsible for surface water and groundwater resources (depends on the country but commonly the ministry of the environment, water, natural resources, energy or agriculture; institutes of water resources, hydrology or geology, or geological surveys) typically have the spatial information about the location and extent of the surface water basin boundaries and aquifer delineations (as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) shapefiles). Information on existing arrangements and their operationality is also commonly available from the same institutions.

Some countries already report to regional organizations on the advancement of transboundary water cooperation, and similar arrangements could be strengthened and facilitated.

In the absence of available information at the national level, global datasets on transboundary basins as well as databases of agreements and organizations for transboundary cooperation are available, which could be used in the absence of more detailed information, in the short term in particular.

-Delineations of transboundary basins

In global databases, the delineations are available through the Global Environment Facility’s Transboundary Waters Assessment Programme (GEF TWAP) (see http://www.geftwap.org/). GEF TWAP covered 286 main transboundary rivers, 206 transboundary lakes and reservoirs and 199 transboundary aquifers. GEF TWAP groundwater component was prepared by UNESCO-IHP International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC).

In 2021, the Oregon State University identified 310 international river basins (https://transboundarywaters.science.oregonstate.edu/sites/transboundarywaters.science.oregonstate.edu/files/Database/Data/register/McCracken_Wolf_2019.pdf) and IGRAC produced the Transboundary Aquifers of the World Map featuring 468 shared aquifers discovered so far (see https://ggis.un-igrac.org/). Relevant information has also been compiled for transboundary aquifers by the UNESCO Internationally Shared Aquifers Resources Management Programme (ISARM) (see http://www.isarm.org/)

-Cooperation arrangements

Existing agreements or other arrangements for transboundary water cooperation are available from the International Freshwater Treaties Database (IFTD), maintained by Oregon State University (OSU) (see https://transboundarywaters.science.oregonstate.edu/content/international-freshwater-treaties-database). This was updated to include freshwater-related arrangements up to 2008. A current update is ongoing to bring the database to 2019. The treaty database includes in total 686 international freshwater treaties.

-Organizations for transboundary water cooperation

OSU’s International River Basin Organization (RBO) Database provides detailed information about over 120 international river basin organizations, including bilateral commissions, around the world (see https://transboundarywaters.science.oregonstate.edu/content/international-river-basin-organization-rbo-database).

Regional assessments describing and inventorying agreements have been undertaken, contributing to the baseline globally. For example, the assessment by UNECE of transboundary water cooperation in the pan-European region; the inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA); and regional inventories of transboundary aquifers under the UNESCO-IHP ISARM: ISARM Americas, ISARM Africa, ISARM South-East Europe and ISARM Asia.

Data are not so far included in the National Statistical Systems but the information needed to calculate the indicator is simple, does not require advanced monitoring capacities and is normally available to all countries at the ministries or agencies responsible for water resources. Spatial information (“transboundary basin area”) is normally available in ministries in charge of water resources. The value of this component is relatively fixed although the precision may vary (especially on aquifers), and may require only limited update on the basis of improved knowledge. Regarding operationality of arrangement the data needed for calculating the indicator can be directly obtained from information from administrative records (Member States have records of cooperation arrangements).

The spatial information on transboundary surface water basins’ boundaries and the extent of the catchment areas are commonly available and essentially static; consequently, once determined, no updating need is expected.

The information on the areal extent of transboundary aquifers may evolve over time as such information is generally more coarse but likely to improve because of the evolving knowledge on aquifers. Technical studies and exchange of information will improve the delineation and might also lead to the identification of additional transboundary aquifers.

In situations where more than two riparian countries share a basin, but only some of them have operational cooperation arrangements, the indicator value may mask the gap that a riparian country does not have cooperation arrangements with all its upstream and downstream neighbours. Such complementary information can be obtained by aggregating data at the level of the basins but not from the reporting at the national level.

The legal basis for cooperation develops slowly: conclusion of new agreements on transboundary waters is commonly a long process that takes many years.

The operationality of cooperation is more dynamic as it evolves with the expansion of cooperation. The operationality can be expected to evolve over shorter time frames, and in a year or two, progress could potentially be observed.

Step 1 Identify the transboundary surface waters and aquifers in the territory of the country

While the identification of transboundary surface water is relatively straightforward, the identification of transboundary aquifers often requires more considered investigations.

If there are no transboundary surface waters or groundwaters, reporting is not applicable.

Step 2 Calculate the surface area of each transboundary basin and the total sum

Commonly at least the basins of the rivers and lakes have been delineated through topographic maps and the basin area is known or easily measurable.

The total transboundary surface area in the country is the sum of the surface areas in the country of each of the transboundary basins and aquifers (expressed in km2). Transboundary areas for different types of systems (e.g. river and lakes basin and aquifers) or multiple aquifers may overlap. The area of transboundary aquifers, even if located within a transboundary river or lake basin, should be added to be able to track progress of cooperation on transboundary aquifers.

The calculations can most easily be carried with Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Once generated, with appropriate tools for spatial analysis, the shapes of the surface river and lake basins and the aquifers can be used to report both disaggregated (for the surface water basin or aquifer) and aggregated (agreement exists on either one).

Step 3 Review existing arrangements for transboundary water cooperation and verify which transboundary waters are covered

Some operational arrangements for transboundary water cooperation in place cover both surface waters and groundwaters (and their associated river and lakes basins and aquifers). In such cases, it should be clear that the geographical extent of both is used to calculate the indicator value. In other cases, the area of application may be limited to a border section of the river basin or sub-basin and in such cases only the corresponding area should be considered as potentially having an operational arrangement for calculating the indicator value. At the end of this step, it should be known which transboundary basins are covered by arrangements for transboundary water cooperation (and their respective areas).

Step 4 Check which of the existing arrangements for transboundary water cooperation are operational

The following check-list allows countries to determine whether the cooperation arrangement on a particular basin or in relation to a particular country is operational:

- does a joint body or mechanism for transboundary water cooperation exist?

- is there at least annual (on average) formal communication in form of meetings, either at the political and/or technical level?

- has a joint or coordinated water management plan(s), or joint objectives been adopted?

- is there at least annual (on average) exchange of information and data?

If any of the conditions are not met, the arrangement for transboundary water cooperation cannot be considered operational. This information is currently available in countries and can also be withdrawn from global, regional or basin databases.

Step 5 Calculate the indicator value

Calculate the indicator value, by adding up the total surface area in the country of the transboundary surface waters and aquifers that are covered by an operational cooperation arrangement and dividing it by the total summed up area in the country of all transboundary basins (including aquifers). The sum should then be multiplied by 100 to obtain a percentage.

2024-07-29

Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO-IHP)

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

SDG indicator 6.5.2 provides a complement to SDG indicator 6.5.1 which measures the advancement of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at all levels.

In addition, as the only indicator in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development explicitly referring to transboundary cooperation, indicator 6.5.2 can play a catalytic role across multiple SDGs and targets including:

SDG 1 – No Poverty

- Indicator 1.1.1 Proportion of population below the international poverty line, by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)

- Indicator 1.4.1 Proportion of population living in households with access to basic services

SDG 2 – Zero Hunger

- Indicator 2.4.1 Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture

SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being

- Indicator 3.9.2 Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, unsafe sanitation and lack of hygiene (exposure to unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for All (WASH) services)

SDG 4 – Quality Education

- Indicator 4.7.1 Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development, including gender equality and human rights, are mainstreamed at all levels in: (a) national education policies, (b) curricula, (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment

SDG 5 – Gender Equality

- Indicator 5.5.2 Proportion of women in managerial positions

SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy

- Indicator 7.1.2 Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology

- Indicator 7.2.1 Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption

SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities

- Indicator 11.5.2 Direct disaster economic loss in relation to global GDP, including disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services

SDG 13 – Climate Action

- Indicator 13.3.2 Number of countries that have communicated the strengthening of institutional, systemic and individual capacity-building to implement adaptation, mitigation and technology transfer, and development actions

SDG 14 – Life below Water

- Indicator 14.1.1 Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density

- Indicator 14.2.1 Proportion of national exclusive zones managed using ecosystem-based approaches

SDG 15 – Life on Land

- Indicator 15.1.2 Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type

- Indicator 15.2.1 Progress towards sustainable forest management

SDG 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

- Indicator 16.1.2 Conflict-related deaths per 100,000 population, by sex, age and cause

- Indicator 16.7.2 Proportion of population who believe decision-making is inclusive and responsive, by sex, age, disability and population group

SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals

- Indicator 17.9.1 Dollar value of financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries

- Indicator 17.14.1 Number of countries with mechanisms in place to enhance policy coherence of sustainable development

2