INTERNATIONAL WATER LAW, ACCEPTABLE POLLUTION RISK AND THE TATSHENSHINI RIVER

The evolution of international water law over the last three decades has provided fertile ground for international lawyers and international legal scholars. One area in which the law continues to evolve is in relation to international river basins, where land use or water upstream poses uncertain environmental or health risks downstream due to impairment of water quality or quantity. Using the Tatshenshini River as an example, it is the thesis of this article that existing international water law has a great deal to offer to the resolution of international water controversies. However, efforts to provide a more workable framework for addressing acceptable risk in an international water law context also have much in common with, and could be informed by, ongoing efforts at defining acceptable risk in public policy towards domestic technological hazards.