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1. Introduction

Data and information are essential to guide governments, RBOs and international organizations in the effective management and governance of transboundary waters.

Exchanging data and information in good faith facilitates cooperation and serves policy makers, diplomats and users across borders to reach informed agreements over shared waters.

An adequate understanding of the conditions, challenges, needs, interests and priorities in transboundary river basins facilitates the development of management plans, agendas, policies, laws and agreements.

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2. Concepts and definitions

Cooperation	Joint efforts between riparian countries for the best use and sufficient safeguard of shared waters.
Data management	The overall process by which data is managed including its compilation, storage, safe-guarding, listing, organization, extraction, retrieval, manipulation, and dissemination.
Equitable and reasonable utilization	The exercise of the right to use transboundary waters by riparian countries considering specific relevant factors and circumstances including the geographic, hydrographic, hydrological, climatic, ecological and other factors of a natural character, as well as the social and economic needs of the countries concerned.
Monitoring	Process of observation, recording, sampling and analysis of water and ecosystems to determine their conditions.
Obligation not to cause significant harm	The duty imposed on every riparian country requiring that their use of water should be undertaken with due care not to cause significant harm to other countries.
Protection of ecosystems	The duty of riparian countries to protect and preserve ecosystems in a transboundary river basin.

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3. Importance of data and information exchange

Data and information on environmental challenges can be essential to prevent, manage and remediate any potential impact and harm to people and nature

Challenges

Pollution
Ineffective water management
Obsolete water infrastructure
Climate change
Floods and droughts

Regular exchange

What does readily available data and information mean?
An answer to this question will depend on the realities of the transboundary river basin and the level of dialogue and cooperation between riparian countries. Countries would need to define what can be considered as regular exchange for instance, every month, every six months or every year. Readily available data and information refers can be considered as the one that a country can easily access, process and share.
Key message: It is suggested that countries negotiating agreements can expressly define the regularity in which data and information is to be exchanged as well as the nature of such data that must be readily available in specific cases such as environmental accidents and the development of large water infrastructure.

What type of data and information should be exchanged?
The UN Watercourses Convention provides that data and information to be exchanged should in particular be that of hydrological, meteorological, hydrogeological and ecological nature and related to the water quality as well as related forecasts.
Key message: It is important that beyond the physical type of data and information expressed in the UN Watercourses Convention, countries could also share socioeconomic facts and statistics to guide actions and policies in benefit of the people living in a transboundary river basin.

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3.1. Characteristics and key provisions

The basis for transboundary water cooperation

The first step toward broader dialogues, cooperation, negotiation of agreements and regional integration

Ensures institutional coordination and promotes transparency and trust, providing mutual assurance of joint compliance.

Key Provisions on Data and Information Exchange
a. Coordination of all water-data collection and resource monitoring activities;
b. Standardization of data collection methods and procedure
c. Maintenance of up-to-date records of the data received, possibly filed by river basin and aquifer;
d. Creation of a centralized hydrologic data unit or data bank at the national level or at the basin level, to receive and store all data collected;
e. Introduce data exchange mechanisms and protocols;
f. Ensure that data are published periodically, following a standardized methodology and format;
g. Make data and information available to the users.

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3.2. Types of data and information to be exchanged

Challenge: data and information can be compromised by fragmentation and heterogeneity in data management

States should permanently observe, adopt and implement mechanisms to measure and monitor shared waters

Formal and informal communications to ensure rapid response

Ensure prior notification, consultation and consent

Hydrological
Meteorological
Ecological
Water quantity and quality
Water pollutants
Water abstraction
Climate models
Groundwater

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3.3. Enabling conditions

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Political Will
Institutional coordination
Technical capacities
Financial capacities

Transparency
Accountability
Public participation
Access to information

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4. Approaches to manage data

Capacities and institutional coordination

Data and information management is a process

Four stages

A. Data and information collection

B. Data and information interpretation

C. Data and information analysis

D. Data and information dissemination

Data Collection Process
Type of data and information	Indicators to be considered
Hydrological (hydrometric)	River discharges, river water levels, river flood peak discharges, river base flows, river sediment load, river water quality, lake/reservoir water levels, lake/reservoir volumes, lake/reservoir water temperature, lake/reservoir surface evaporation, volume of water imported/exported to/from basin
Hydromorphological alterations	Dams, weirs
Future planned measures with transboundary impacts	Infrastructure development
Groundwater	Groundwater levels and pressure, quality, aquifer yields and quality, estimate annual groundwater recharge, aquifer thickness, permeability and storage capacity
Meteorological (and climatic)	Sunshine/radiation hours, wind speed, air temperature, humidity, evaporation, precipitation, precipitation intensity
Ecological (environmental)	Minimum flow requirements, critical flow periods and demands, protected areas and water demands, protected areas and water demands, required water quality standards
Water quality	Electrical conductivity, suspended sediment, nutrients, temperature, pH, oxygen
Water pollutants	Concentrations of arsenic, bacteria, nitrogen, phosphorus, viruses, fertilizers, pesticides, algae, industrial waste, heavy metals
Water abstraction	Abstraction quantity (surface/groundwater), abstraction quality, return flow quality and quantity

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4.1 Public participation, access to information and access to justice

Contemplated in regional agreements such as the Aarhus Convention and the Escazu Agreement

The right to a healthy environment depends on the adequate participation in decision making, access to information and access to justice

Public participation improves the quality and effectiveness of decisions, raises public awareness of environmental issues, provides a forum to express concerns and enables public authorities to reflect on such matters.

Everyone should have access to the data and information held by governments as a requirement for democratic accountability, participation, and access to justice.

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5. Technologies and scientific innovation

Monitoring, evaluation and prediction of water quality	Water quality monitoring
	Water quality evaluation
	Water quality prediction
Water treatment	Disinfection techniques
	Electro-chemical techniques
	Filtration
	Nanotechnologies
Water catchment, storage, supply and pricing	Water catchment and storage
Water catchment, storage, supply and pricing	Water supply and pricing
Water use	Smart WASH systems
Water use	Smart farming
Prevention and adaptation to the effects of climate change	Prevention
Prevention and adaptation to the effects of climate change	Adaptation

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6. Case studies

Sava River Basin

Dniester River Basin

Aral Sea

Mekong River Basin

Rhine River Basin

Danube River Basin

Danube River Basin
Agreement	1994 Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable use of the Danube River
Provisions	According to the Convention, Contracting Parties are required to adopt monitoring programmes (Art. 9); reporting (Art. 10); consultations (Art. 11); exchange of information (Art. 12); protection of information supplied (Art. 13); information to the public (Art. 14); research and development (Art. 15); communication, warning and alarm systems, and emergency plans (Art. 16).
Institutional framework	In 1998, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (or ICPDR) was established, as a transnational body with the objective of implementing the Danube River Convention. The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River was empowered by the Danube countries to organize data collection and to process information in order to promote decision-making processes.
Mechanisms adopted	The ICPDR established the Danube River Basin Geographic Information System (Danube GIS), a tool for integration and storage of the relevant data resources, and a common basis for data usage in the ICPDR. Additionally, the ICDPR supported the creation of the Water Quality Database of the TransNational Monitoring Network (or TNMN), with the objective of providing a structured and well-balanced overall view of pollution and long-term trends in water quality and pollution loads in the major rivers in the Danube River Basin. The TNMN monitoring network operates on national surface water monitoring networks and includes 79 monitoring locations with up to three sampling points across the Danube and its main tributaries river.
Further information	International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

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7. Key Recommendations

Increase human, financial and technical capacities

Enabling innovation through initiatives building on new technologies, practices and approaches
Ensure adequate financial resources on water data and information management
Strengthen human resources and technical capacities on the different stages of data management
Provide opportunities for young and aspiring water professionals for effective IWRM and planning

Promote partnerships and external co-operation

Foster transboundary water co-operation to facilitate dialogue for joint management of data in shared waters
Building on existing partnerships to nurture exchange of knowledge and good practices

Strengthen monitoring and evaluation

Engage key stakeholders in monitoring and evaluation processes and promote the use of innovative monitoring technologies

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