Teorías aplicables a la protección ambiental de los recursos hídricos compartidos internacionalmente

This article presents an advance on the research on the role played by the different theories on the sovereignty of water resources shared by different States and analyzes their relevance and usefulness to identify what elements can contribute to the construction of a novel theory, which manages to guarantee the protection and environmental preservation of resources. To achieve the foregoing, this research first explored the concept of sovereignty and the different postulates that have been raised in this regard, and secondly, performed an in-depth analysis of the theories of sovereignty concerning the exercise of power over water resources. These theories included a wide range of conceptions ranging from absolute territorial sovereignty and absolute territorial integrity to restrictive conceptions based on the abuse of the law, international easements, and neighborly relations, as well as those referring to the community of interests and the international river basin, all of which lead, thirdly, to propose the theory of common sovereignty of shared water resources.