This work provides an overview of the various legal responses to conflicts involving the use of water resources and analyses the continuous development of water law in the face of new threats of water shortages. Water scarcity is a matter of growing concern for human populations and ecosystems worldwide. The distinguished team of contributors analyse the nature of the problem of water scarcity, international water law, legal and policy responses to water scarcity in selected regions and the emergence of a new body of economic water law. The contributions reveal the diverse and dynamic development of water law and the interaction between the legal and policy responses on the international, regional and national level.

This book is the result of the conference Scarcity of Water: International, European and National Legal Aspects held at the Faculty of Law of the Erasmus University Rotterdam in October 1995. It contains a selection of the papers presented at the conference and several additional contributions from experts in the field of water law and policy.