Skip navigation
On the far bank of a river, white, brown and tan buildings are punctuated by a aquamarine-green one, with grey, white and orange ships on the water's edge below, small boats, trees and people.
SEI brief

Rights of rivers in practice: lessons for equitable river governance

Start reading
SEI brief

Rights of rivers in practice: lessons for equitable river governance

This brief is based on the SEI report Case study report on rights of rivers in practice in Bangladesh and Colombia (https://doi.org/10.51414/sei2026.022).

Bobby Farnan, Dayoon Kim, Yesica Rodríguez Blásquez, Alison Dyke, Sushmita Mandal, Tania Santos / Published on 30 June 2026

Download  SEI brief / PDF / 539 KB
Citation

Farnan, R., Kim, D., Rodríguez-Blásquez, Y., Dyke, A., Mandal, S., & Santos, T. F. S. (2026). Rights of rivers in practice: lessons for equitable river governance. SEI brief. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://doi.org/10.51414/sei2026.028

DOI

https://doi.org/10.51414/sei2026.028

Key messages

  • Legal recognition of river rights is the first step for equitable river governance.

  • River rights must be clearly defined and operationalized.

  • Governance arrangements must enable coordinated leadership and accountability.

  • River governance should integrate community knowledge and participation.

  • River health should be assessed through both ecological and social criteria.

This policy brief draws on research examining the implementation of rights of rivers in Bangladesh and Colombia (Rodríguez-Blásquez et al., 2026). While these cases differ in their legal and institutional design, they illustrate general challenges for countries that have adopted rights of rivers frameworks. Through a comparative analysis of rights of rivers implementation in both countries, we focus on practical governance lessons for policymakers seeking to make rights of rivers effective.

Download

SEI brief / PDF / 539 KB

SEI authors

Bobby Farnan

Research Associate

SEI York

Dayoon Kim

Research Associate

SEI Asia

Yesica Rodríguez Blásquez

Research Associate

SEI Latin America

Alison Dyke

Research Fellow

SEI York

Sushmita Mandal

Senior Research Fellow

SEI Asia

Tania Santos

Team Leader: Water; Research Fellow

SEI Latin America

Topics and subtopics
Governance : Innovation
Tags
biodiversity, hydrology, livelihoods, local knowledge, ecosystems
Related centres
SEI Latin America, SEI Asia, SEI York

Related projects

You might also be interested in