Regardless of longstanding disagreements over how cross-border freshwater resources should be allocated and managed, and understandable preferences by governments and water professionals to rely on basin agreements rather than on international legal instruments, that half-century wait can be explained only by a lack of political leadership.
Skutečně špatnou zprávou však je, že spotřeba vody roste rychleji než počet obyvatel – ve dvacátém století se zvyšovala dokonce dvojnásobným tempem.