Description of the Guarani Aquifer Agreement between Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

1. Guarani
Aquifer
Agreement
Note: Translation of officia l
document provided by Luiz Amore.
Original available in Spanish and Portuguese.

2. Lying underneath an area that spans parts of
Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina is the
Guarani Aquifer System, a trans-boundary
hydrogeological reserve potentially containing
enough freshwater to supply the world's
population for 200 years.
At 1.2 million square kilometers, the Guarani is
currently the source of drinking water for
over 15 million people, primarily in Brazil.

3. Surface area: 1.2 million sq. km.
Territorial extension:
Brazil 850,000 sq. km
Argentina 225,000 sq. km
Paraguay 70,000 sq. km
Uruguay 25,000 sq. km
Volume: about 40,000 cu km.
1 cubic kilometer = 1 billion litres of water
(enough to supply about 28 million homes
per year in an average American city)
Only 40 to 80 cu km could be exploited
from the aquifer.
It is worth noting that the aquifer is a
renewable water source, since it is fed over
166 yearly cu. km of freshwater from rain
and soil humidity.

4. The Guarani Aquifer
Agreement
Signed at San Juan,
Republic of Argentina,
On August 2nd of 2010

5. PARTICIPANTS
Republic of Argentina
Federative Republic of Brazil
Republic of Paraguay
Oriental Republic of Uruguay

6. OBJECTIVE
Expansion of levels of cooperation and
integration
Conservation and sustainable utilization
of the Guarani Aquifer System trans-boundary
water resource
Expansion of the scope of collaborative
actions for the same
CONTENTS 22 Articles

7. RATIONALE
✔Resolution 1803 (XVII), UN General Assembly - related to the permanent sovereignty over
natural resources
✔Resolution 63/124, UN General Assembly on the Law of Trans-boundary Aquifers
✔Declaration of the UN Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972 –
principles of natural resources protection, responsibility for reasonable utilization
✔Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992 – responsibility to promote
sustainable development
✔Summit of the Americas on Sustainable Development, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 1996
✔World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002
✔Treaty of the Plata River Basin, signed in Brasilia, 1969 – harmonious development of water
resources and physical integration
✔Framework Agreement on the Environment of MERCOSUR, signed in Asuncion, 2001
✔Project for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development of the Guarani Aquifer
System
✔Responsible management of the Guarani Aquifer System

8. AGREEMENT
1. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are the 'Parties' involved, and are the sole
owners of this resource.
2. Each Party exercises sovereign control over its respective portion of the Guarani
Aquifer System (hereinafter referred to as 'GAS').
3. Parties hold the right to promote the management, monitoring, and sustainable
utilization of the GAS in their respective territories.
4. Parties should ensure multiple, reasonable, sustainable, and equitable use of the
GAS.
5. All activities related to the GAS should be in agreement with applicable international
law.
6. Parties should adopt all necessary measures to avoid causing significant harm to
the other Parties or the Environment, and eliminate or mitigate the same if harm has
been done.

9. 7. Parties should share and adequately exchange technical data, knowledge and
information on studies, activities and works on the GAS, through cooperation programs
and joint projects.
8. Parties should cooperatively identify critical areas of the GAS requiring specific
treatment measurements.
9. A Commission composed by the four Parties, with its own regulations shall oversee
the coordination and cooperation among the same, and their complying to the
Agreement. All disputes shall be settled through direct confrontation, and informed to
the Commission.
10. No reservations shall be permitted by the Agreement.
11. The Agreement shall have unlimited duration.
12. In case of conflict, Parties should try to negotiate and come to an agreement within
6 months, after which time (if not settled) the matter should be taken to the
Commission. The Commission should solve the matter within 60 days, failing which an
arbitration procedure shall be established.
13. Parties may denounce the Agreement through written notification, which shall take
effect one year later.

10. REFLECTIONS
→ Phrases like “significant harm”, “adequate exchange of information”,
“reasonable period”, etc., are very ambiguous and unclear on what is and isn't
'significant', 'adequate', or 'reasonable'.
→ Articles at the beginning of the document often tend to repeat similar
elements (probably for the purpose of greater emphasis), which gives the
document a repetitive tone.
→ If the denunciation of the Agreement is so easy and effortless, then
practically any Party confronting a dispute may withdraw from the agreement
if negotiations don't go their way, and proceed with their desired action,
uninterrupted by obligations enforced by the Commission or the Agreement.

11. Thank you