Patricia Wouters

Introduction

Professor Dr Patricia Wouters is the Director of The Unesco Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science based at Dundee, Scotland.

"Professor Dr Patricia Wouters leads an inter/multi-disciplinary team of water law, policy and science experts at the University of Dundee, Scotland. Professor Wouters established the graduate water law programme at Dundee in 1996 and has worked since then to build the capacity and range of expertise in the unit....The Dundee UNESCO IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science is the first UNESCO Centre in the UK and the first of its kind in the world" .

Biography

"Professor Wouters (Canadian and Belgian national) began her university studies at the University of Ottawa (Canada), where she completed a BA (gold medalist) and LLB (cum laude). Following close to a decade in legal practice (Alberta, Canada), Pat pursued graduate studies (in law) at Berkeley, California (on a scholarship award), where she completed an LLM (comparative constitutional law). From there, she continued her graduate studies, moving to Switzerland (with an international scholarship) to study at the Graduate Institute of International Studies / University of Geneva (public international law, with a focus on water law). During her PhD research work, Pat was invited to be a visiting Research Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for Comparative Public and International Law (Heidelberg, Germany) where she completed her dissertation. From Heidelberg, Pat was recruited to Dundee where she established the graduate programme in water law and policy (1996). Since then, Dundee has established an international reputation in the area of water law and policy. Professor Wouters has visited some 50+ countries around the world, where she has presented her research and provided expert advice on water law and policy. Pat works now to implement the “Water Law, Water Leaders” programme with the objective to develop a new generation of “local water leaders”, working closely with the Dundee team and its Global Faculty of experts from around the globe" . .

Patricia Wouters and Suez

Dr Wouters is a member of Suez's Foresight Advisory Council, Suez themselves mention little of this council, thus the work that it does remains something of a mystery. In 2004 Dr Patricia Wouters made clear that major improvements in the world's water supplies will require private investment. "We are deluding ourselves if we think the public sector can meet the demand without new money from the private sector" she said . Coincidentally, Dr Patricia Wouters has also recently met the Chief Executive of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, Alan Sutherland. He travelled to Dundee to see her on the 3 March 2007 and delivered a lecture there on the 22 March 2007

Affiliations and memberships

• World Economic Council – invited to be member of Global Think Tank Group on Global Water Scarcity.
• Global Water Partnership – named to Technical Experts Committee (TEC).
• World Water Assessment Programme – invited to co-chair Legal Experts Group for WWAP and World Water Development Report (Istanbul 2009)
• Foresight Advisory Committee (SUEZ); invited to be member.
• Scotland UNESCO Committee; appointed to national board.
• Xiamen Asian Academy of International Law, invited to give lecture at inaugural session of the Academy (“New Dimensions of the International Law that governs shared Transboundary Waters”) 10-14 Sept 2006 (Xiamen, China).
• Invited as international expert on Expoagua Zaragoza 2008 to assist with planning for International Exhibition Zaragoza 2008, (14 June – 14 Sept 2008, Zaragoza, Spain).
• Fellow, International Water Resources Association.

Publications

Books

• Rivers of the World: Water Law, State Practice and Current Issues (Monograph; 500+ pp.) (work-in-progress).

• The United Nations Work on the Law relating to the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses: Survey of Three Decades of Study (work-in-progress).

• Hydrology and Water Law – Bridging the Gap, Jim Wallace and Patricia Wouters (eds.), IWA Publishers, ISBN 1843390701 (December 2005).

• “Sharing Transboundary Waters – An Integrated Assessment of Equitable Entitlement: The Legal Assessment Model, IHP-VI,

• Documents in Hydrology No. 74, UNESCO Paris, 2005. (with S. Vinogradov, A. Allan, P. Jones, and A. Rieu-Clarke.) available at www.unesco.org/water/ihp.

• "Transforming Potential Conflict into Cooperation Potential: The Role of International Water Law" (with S. Vinogradov and P. Jones), (UNESCO PCCP 2003)

• Geneva Strategy and Framework for Monitoring Compliance with Agreements on Transboundary Waters: Elements of a Proposed Compliance Review Procedure, (Expert’s Report), UN Doc. MP. WAT/2000/5 and Add. 1, (12 pp.).

Book chapters

• The Changing Dimensions of International Water Law”, Lectures for Chinese Academy of International Law (Sept 2006, Xiamen) to be published by Kluwer Law / The Hague Academy of International Law (work-in-progress).

• Water Security: What Role for International Water Law, in Human and Environmental Security, an Agenda for Change, Earthscan, London, 2005.

• Trade Sanctions under Multilateral Environmental Protection Agreements, book chapter in Environmental Policy: From Regulation to Economic Instruments; M. Bothe and P. Sand (Editors); Hague Academy of International Law; (Kluwer Academic, 2003).

Articles

• “A New Generation of Local Water Leaders”, 18(3) Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law (2007) 513-522.

• “Are Shared Benefits of International Waters an Equitable Apportionment?”, 18(3) Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law (2007) 101-114 (co-authored with Prof. Dan Tarlock).

• “What Lessons from Europe? A Comparative Analysis of the Legal Frameworks that Govern Europe’s Transboundary Waters”, 36 The Environmental Law Reporter (2006) 10290-10309.

• “The New Development of Water Law in China”, 7 University of Denver Water Law Review, (2004) 243-308 (co-authored with D. Hu, J. Zhang, D.Tarlock, and P.Andrews-Speed.)

• Analysing the ECE Water Convention: What Lessons for the Regional Management of Transboundary Water Resources?, Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development, (2003/2004) 55-65 (co-authored with S. Vinogradov).

• Towards Integrated Catchment Management: Increasing the Dialogue between Scientists, Policy-makers and Stakeholders,20(3) Water Resources Development (2004) (15 pp.) (co-authored with , M. Falkenmark, L. Gottschalk, and J., Lundqvist).

• The Role of International Water Law in ensuring ‘Good Water Governance’: A call for renewed focus and action, 15 Water Law “2004) 89-95 (co-authored with A. Rieu-Clarke).

• What Role for Water Law in the Emerging “Good Governance” Debate?, 15 Water Law (2004) 85-89 (co-authored with A. Allan).

• What Role for Law in Achieving Transboundary Drainage Basin Security? – The Development and Testing of the Legal Assessment Model (LAM) for Transboundary Watercourse States, 49 Water Science & Technology (2004) 97-112.

• “Universal and Regional Approaches to Resolving International Disputes: What Lessons Learned from State Practice”, in International Bureau of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, ed., Resolution of International Water Disputes (Kluwer Law International, The Hague 2003).

• “The Legal Response to Water Conflicts: The UN Watercourses Convention and Beyond”, 42 German Yearbook of International Law 293 (2000).

• The Relevance and Role of Water Law in the Sustainable Development Of Freshwater. Replacing “Hydro-Sovereignty” with “Hydro-Solidarity” and Horizontal Solutions, Stockholm International Water Institute (1999) 77-83; also reprinted with permission in INTERNATIONAL Water Resources Journal, June 2000.

Project / Policy Work and Outreach

A summary of project work:

• Asian Development Bank and World Bank Central Asia (Aral Sea).
• EU project: STRIVER (Dundee UNESCO Centre lead is Dr Alistair Rieu-Clarke)
• EU project: Brahmatwinn (Dundee UNESCO Centre lead is Dr Alistair Rieu-Clarke)
• EU project: INWAMA (Dundee UNESCO Centre lead is Andrew Allan)
• DFID MENA project - An integrated inter-disciplinary approach for managing shared waters in the Middle East and North Africa – the Transboundary Analytical Framework. (collaborative research with CeH Wallingford and Newcastle University)
• DFID KAR Project – publication noted above; “Sharing Transboundary Waters – An Integrated Assessment of Equitable Entitlement: The Legal Assessment Model”.
• DFID Central Asia – series of lectures on water law delivered in Uzbekistan for regional Aral Sea countries.
• NATO Advanced Research Workshops (Moscow; Kyrgyztan).
• World Bank (China, Namibia, Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia) Bank (Mekong River commission)
• UNECE Experts Report -- Geneva Strategy and Framework for Monitoring Compliance with Agreements on Transboundary Waters: Elements of a Proposed Compliance Review Procedure, (Expert’s Report), UN Doc. MP. WAT/2000/5 and Add. 1.
• UNESCO HELP programme; founding member and active on 67 HELP basins around the world.
• UNESCO PCCP - Transforming Potential Conflict into Cooperation Potential: The Role of International Water Law".
• UN WMO – Legal experts report on flooding (authors of legal inputs: Dr Alistair Rieu-Clarke and Andrew Allan)