Towards the Joint-Management of Transboundary Groundwaters: Hydrogeology and the Guaraní Aquifer System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin.123.3.012Keywords:
groundwater, knowledge, policy, transboundary aquiferm governanceAbstract
In stark contrast to other international waters such as shared rivers or lakes, transboundary groundwaters are rarely co-managed. Management initiatives for shared groundwaters depend on scientific knowledge, which is often unavailable, and are influenced by a multiplicity of local issues that preclude the straightforward implementation of regulatory mechanisms. Drawing from historical documents and interviews with management experts, scientists and socio-economic stakeholders, we examine the roles of science and scientific co-operation in the process that led to the creation of co-management instruments for the Guaraní aquifer system. This analytical approach purposely sidesteps archetypical discussion about geopolitical differences and the incompatibility of institutional settings, arguing instead that hydrogeological knowledge is a constitutive dimension of the decision-making process, in which it operates both as a tool for the reframing of preferences as a challenge to established institutional frameworks.
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