Legal foundations for public participation on international watercourses: the case of the Ili River

Effective engagement of local communities in managing transboundary water basins is essential to sustainable development and water resources management. This paper explores how international law, including a variety of legal regimes from international water law to international environmental and human rights law, shapes public participation on transboundary water resources. A coherent legal framework secures substantive rights to water and supports its implementation via procedural rights: access to information, justice, and participation in decision-making. Using the Ili River shared by China and Kazakhstan as a case study, this article highlights the legal foundations that enable participation, identifies gaps, and suggests that solutions may lie beyond international water law.