Message from the International Association for Water Law - AIDA (Circular Letter No.5/2009)

The International Association for Water Law, better known under its Spanish acronym of "AIDA" is 42 years old, a venerable age in the world of NGOs. It was established in 1967 in Washington D.C. during the Water for Peace Conference when the need for an NGO to provide a forum for issues concerning water law was deeply felt by a group of distinguished water lawyers and scientists from the five Continents. 

The main purpose of AIDA is to promote sound legal and institutional arrangements for the management, development and protection of water resources at the domestic and at the transboundary level.  AIDA has been granted consultative/liaison status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) as early as 1971, and with a number of UN Specialized Agencies.

English, French and Spanish are the three official languages of the Association.

The first seat of AIDA was in Valencia (Spain), before it moved to Rome (Italy). Both places have been landmarks in the development of water legislation. The Water Tribunal of Valencia has been meeting every Thursday at noon for more than 1,000 years! Rome has developed a system of water laws which has profoundly influenced the legal regime of the waters in Europe and in other parts of the world, up to modern times, starting with the Law of the Twelve Tables, drawn up between 451 and 448 BC!

The complexity of managing water resources in the present-day circumstances, and the challenges ahead, demand effective legislative responses and capable institutions. Modern water laws and regulations may provide for instance effective tools to organize an adequate response to the causes and effects of global warming. Also, the "right to water" will remain an aspirational goal unless it is embodied in a proper set of rules and regulations

AIDA's membership is open to all actors of the water sector, be they lawyers, engineers or managers. To join now the Association is particularly timely as AIDA will actively cooperate with the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) in the latter's 14^th World Water Congress to be held in Recife (Brazil) in November 2011. Visit AIDA's site on how to join www.aida-waterlaw-org