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Abstract Recent institutional developments have reduced the growing tensions on water resources. In calling for international cooperation, they tend to substitute the principle of absolute territorial sovereignty for that of limited sovereignty. The case of the United States shows that the management of transboundary water is a hard task even for Northern countries, and illustrates the inequality of agreements with the South. Similarly, in West Africa, Central Asia and in the Mekong and Nile regions, institutional organisms have been created and represent a significant step towards the concerted management of water basins, as states are forced to cooperate. These new institutions, however, are confronted with problems related to the inadequacy of the Western model, the existence of unbalanced powers and the relinquishment of sovereignty.