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23 Wyo. L. Rev. 117 (2023)
Implications of Chile v. Bolivia for Transboundary Wetlands

handle is hein.journals/wylr23 and id is 257 raw text is: WYOMING LAw REVIEw VOLUME 23 2023 NUMBER 2 IMPLICATIONS OF CHILE V. BOLIVIA FOR TRANSBOUNDARY WETLANDS Zoe H. Rosenblum & Aaron T Wofk I. IN TRO DU CTION ................................................................................... 117 II. WETLANDS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW................................................... 119 A. Defining International Wetlands...................................................... 120 B. International Water Law: Treaties & Key Principles.......................... 120 C. Applying International Water Law to Wetlands................................. 121 III. CHILE V. BOLIVIA AND INTERNATIONAL WETLANDS............................... 123 A. ICJ Treatment of Wetlands .............................................................. 123 B. Implications for Wetlands Globally................................................... 124 IV . C ON CLU SION .........................................................................................125 I. INTRODUCTION The recent ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Chile v. Bolivia has implications that extend beyond the Silala River to the Bolivian bofedales and to wetlands globally. Indeed, wetlands featured prominently in this decades-long transboundary water dispute. This Essay explores how the ICJ's use of the customary international water law principles of equitable and reasonable use and no significant harm have implications for transboundary wetlands. In particular, the Court's ruling: (1) can be interpreted as defining international waters broadly to include systems of surface and groundwater (such as wetlands); (2) reinforces the obligation of shared watercourse states to the principles of equitable and reasonable use and no significant harm; and (3) demonstrates that states may protect and rehabilitate their wetlands in accordance with international water law.1 Ultimately, this dispute, which arose in a basin considered to be one of the most hydropolitically vulnerable * Zoe H. Rosenblum is a PhD Student in Geography at Oregon State University (OSU), USA. Her research explores the governance of transboundary wetlands. Aaron T. Wolf is a Professor of Geography at OSU, with an appointment as professor of water diplomacy at IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands, and directs the Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation through which he has offered workshops, facilitations, and mediation in basins throughout the world. ' See infra Part III.