Latest revision as of 10:51, 8 July 2013

There are two types of articles in AquaPedia, Case Studies and Background Articles.

Types of Background Articles

Four types of Background articles are currently available to AquaPedia: Water Features, Riparians, Water Projects, and Agreements. The purpose of these articles is to collect common information that relates to specific water features, projects, or agreements in central locations.

Because multiple cases can require an understanding of the same basic facts about

• riparians, the states adjacent to a water source and central to a conflict;
• water features such as a basin (watershed), minor rivers, lakes, groundwater resources, etc;
• projects, such as built infrastructure or organizational initiatives (such as a commission); and
• agreements and treaties

each case can be linked to new or existing articles containing background information on these topics. This way, individual riparians, natural features, projects and initiatives, or agreements do not need to be explained in great detail in the body of every case.

Viewing Background Articles

All Articles can be viewed from the List of Background Sections page. Articles are also linked from case studies.

Discussing and Commenting on Background Articles

Users can discuss and comment on Background Articles using the "Discussion" tab, located on the upper left-hand side of the content area. Users can use the discussion board feature to comment on Background Article content and discuss the article and its development with other users.

Editing Background Articles

All confirmed users can edit Background Articles. When viewing any Background Articles on AquaPedia, there is an "Edit" link on the top right hand side of the content area. Clicking that link will bring you to the editing interface. More information about the technical aspects of editing are available on the Help section of this site.

Creating and Background Articles

All confirmed user accounts can add articles from within the Edit interface for a case study. The "Background Articles" Tab has options for adding new or existing articles to a case. Articles

Criteria for new articles

All background articles should be linked to one or more case studies. New background articles should meet the required criteria for that article type.

Riparians

Riparian articles should meet one of these criteria:

A)The riparian is a sovereign state or federated state or province or city-state with a reasonable claim to water access or rights in a conflict that would meet AquaPedia case study guidelines.

or

B)The riparian is an established territory with official governance designated by treaty or other binding-agreement with a reasonable claim to water access or rights in a conflict that would meet AquaPedia case study guidelines.

Generally speaking, common sense should dictate the level of depth for defining riparians in cases. For many transboundary cases, the relevant riparians would only be the countries involved. However, in some cases, concerns of smaller units, such as federated states or city states within one of the involved countries may necessitate their inclusion in the case study.

Riparian articles should be named as the Riparian's title. For example: "Egypt" would be an appropriate title, but "Riparian of Egypt" would be inappropriate.

Water Features

Water Feature articles should discuss one river, basin, groundwater resource or body of water that is central to a water conflict that would meet AquaPedia case study guidelines.

Water Projects

Water Project Articles should discuss either a built infrastructure project (such as a dam or transmission project) or an organizational initiative (such as a commission) relevant to a water conflict that would meet AquaPedia case study guidelines.

Agreements

Agreement articles should discuss treaties or other written agreements between 2 or more parties involved in a water conflict that would meet AquaPedia case study guidelines.

Advice for naming Background Articles

1. Do not use non-alphanumeric characters other than parentheses, spaces, or commas. Slashes and Semi-Colons must not appear in titles.
2. Keep the name as simple and appropriate as possible. Disambiguation of similar titles should be accomplished through location or date information in parentheses next to the name of the feature, project, or agreement. (E.g.: Wilson Dam (India)
3. Detailed advice on naming background articles is available here.

Related Pages

• List of Background Sections
• Create a new Water Feature article
• Create a new Water Project article
• Create a new Agreement article
• Create a new Riparian article