The Bellagio Draft Treaty on transboundary groundwater was developed by a group of experienced legal practitioners and scientists from many parts of the world convened by Professor Albert Utton to identify basic requirements for the joint protection and use of aquifers shared by two or more countries. The Utton Transboundary Resources Center, established to honor and carry on the work of Al Utton, models some of its projects on the same process of interdisciplinary and international collaboration that he used to develop the draft treaty.

The Bellagio project began when Al Utton and Mexican Ambassador César Sepúlveda convened a group in 1977 to study groundwater issues because existing international water treaties and commissions had limited jurisdiction over groundwater and were not addressing emerging issues. Many proposals and drafts were circulated over the years, culminating in a 1987meeting at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy. The notes and tapes from that meeting became the basis for the Bellagio Draft Treaty, authored by Professors R.D. Hayton, G. E. Radosevich and Albert E. Utton.

The draft treaty proposes principles and institutional mechanisms for countries to jointly address such shared groundwater management issues as uncontrolled drawdown, depletion, drought reserves, water quality, protection of recharge areas, and public health emergencies, along with procedures for settling disputes.

English ( PDF document )

Revised and Augmented by ROBERT D. HAYTON and ALBERT E. UTTON
Transboundary Groundwaters: The Bellagio Draft Treaty

Spanish ( PDF document )

Revisado y aumentado por ROBERTO D. HAYTON y ALBERT E. UTTON
Aguas Subterráneas Transfonterizas: Anteproyecto de Tratado “Bellagio”,
Traducción por Carmen l. de Campoy y Raquel L. de Barbuzza