4.0 International Inland Waterways Themes Each inland waterway case represents a unique set of political, economic, geographic, and social circumstances. However, common themes emerge about governance, investment priorities, and environmental pressures, that may offer lessons to guide inland waterway investment and policymaking in the U.S.
Governance Each inland waterway system involves a complex set of actors with sometimes competing interests. Governance includes the public and private sector entities that manage the waterway use, prioritize investments, and oversee its development. Even when a river is entirely contained within a single nation, as is the case with China and the Yangtze River, governance still must balance national and regional or local priorities. Governance is more complex when it includes negotiating agreements between countries that share the river system. In the case of the Paraná-Paraguay and the Amazon in South America, as well as the Mekong in Asia, a dominant player like Brazil or China will often dictate the terms of engagement. In China’s relationship with the nations of the Lower Mekong Basin, both investment decisions and control of the water flow from key dams affect usage of the river within countries downstream. The EU’s management of the Rhine-Danube provides several positive lessons regarding governance. Despite multiple countries with jurisdiction over the rivers, a highly structured set of agreements and associations provides a forum for negotiation at the system-wide level while much of the responsibility for funding and planning remains within the nations through which the rivers pass. This offers a balance between more coordinated planning and localized implementation. It also reflects the responsibilities that national governments have to fund waterway improvements. Also, while the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) enables broad oversight and enforcement, regional and local stakeholders have the flexibility to adjust according to their specific needs and goals. Most significant to the WFD may be the continuous emphasis on sustained coordination: this directive allows stakeholders to establish partnerships and set the foundation for formal and binding agreements in the future. The use of funds to support the streamlining of administrative processes highlights the importance of institutional measures and reforms that facilitate inland waterway projects.
Waterborne Competitiveness
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