Drought Forces Rethink of Regional Water Sharing

A water-sharing treaty drafted when the region's rivers ran considerably fuller is being reopened, after a third consecutive dry year left the main reservoirs below half their designed capacity.

The existing agreement allocates fixed volumes rather than proportions of actual flow — a design that works when supply is predictable and fails badly when it is not. Upstream states have met their obligations on paper while downstream farmers report arriving water well below the figures on the schedule, largely because losses in transit were never accounted for.

Negotiators are discussing a shift to percentage-based allocation, which would spread shortfalls across all parties instead of concentrating them downstream. Agricultural lobbies upstream oppose the change, and no country has agreed to binding cuts. Talks resume next quarter.