ABSTRACT
International relations bearing on the use, development, and protection of water resources were restricted mainly to navigation, and the resources involved were frequently identified as "international rivers and lakes" for the purpose of international law. The question of the most appropriate definition of water resources in international relations arises out of several attempts to formulate general rules of international law for the codification and the progressive development of the law of nations. The perspective of international responsibility does not dispel doubts about the binding force of the principles mentioned regarding the use, development, and protection of shared water resources. The UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, also proclaimed a number of principles bearing on water within the broader context of protection of the human environment.
