Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation

January 28, 2020
The University of Arizona's Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy has become the latest member of the Universities Partnership for Water Cooperation and Diplomacy (UPWCD), an international network of research institutions that strives to advance the field of water cooperation and diplomacy, A recent publication by Udall Center researchers, "U.S.-Mexico Hydrodiplomacy: Foundations, change, and future challenges, is highlighted on the UPWCD website as an example of the Udall Center's focus on water diplomacy within the U.S.-Mexico border region.

January 21, 2020
Researchers at King's College, London and Michigan Technological University have developed the GlObal geOreferenced Database of Dams (GOODD), a global dataset of more than 38,000 georeferenced dams. GOODD will enable improved global analyses of the impact dams have on society and the environment, and also advances understanding of the effect of environmental change on dam cactchments.
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December 6, 2019
The Water, Peace, and Security (WPS) partnership has developed a groundbreaking Global Early Warning Tool using data from the Pacific Institute's Water Conflict Chronology to predict the risk of violent conflict up to 12 months before it occurs. The WPS Global Early Warning Tool compares patterns between violent conflict and 80 environmental, social, and economic variables across a timeline of 20 years to the present day to identify potential water-related conflict hotspots across Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia.

August 24, 2019
OSU Water Policy and Management graduate and current Ph.D. student at the University of Delaware, Mehmet Altingoz, has published a new article investigating cooperation occurring in conflict zones, specifically in the Armenian–Turkish Border.  The paper explored the example of the Arpacay/Akhuryan Dam.

May 25, 2019
The Economist takes a look at how climate change can lead to an increase in conflict at various scales.  They interview PWCMT Director, Dr. Aaron Wolf, about the research collected within the TFDD and how the potential for conflict can increase in the face of change if there is not enough capacity to adapt to the change. 
Read more - online

May 23, 2019

May 22, 2019
PWCMT Director Dr. Aaron Wolf talks the PRI's The World about dam-building projects on the Tigris-Euphrates and the efforts to address impacts in Turkey as well as downstream in Syria and Iraq. 
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May 5, 2019
Created by researchers and students, this database is intended to help policymakers, researchers, community members and others find information on a selection of dams from around the world. Our aim is to better understand how hydropower dams affect the individuals and communities who live near them, with a particular focus on population displacement and resettlement.  Currently, more than 500 dams from most of the world’s major river systems are included in the database, with information drawn from more than 700 published references. 

March 29, 2019
TFDD Manager, Melissa McCracken, and PWCMT Director, Dr. Aaron Wolf, have published a new article that provides a new look at the Register of International River Basins.  Bringing the count to 310, Updating the Register of International River Basins of the World addresses new data, data inconsistencies, and answers the question: 'Where does a river end?'.  The updated river basin and basin country unit delineations can be downloaded here. 

March 8, 2019
OSU partner institution, University for Peace, held an event at UPEACE Centre the Hague on 8 March 2019.  PWCMT's Dr. Aaron Wolf demonstrated how scholars can put peace into practice, by helping to resolve conflicts over water, which highlights the focus of the joint master's programme in Water Cooperation and Diplomacy offered by OSU, UPEACE, and IHE Delft.