According to the United Nations, there are 276 international rivers shared by two or more countries and 200 identified transboundary aquifers (UNESCO, 2013). Transboundary river basins cover 50% of the Earth's surface (excluding Antarctica) and channel 60% of global flow (Biswas, 1999). Approximately 40% of the world's population lives within transboundary lake and river basins, and two billion people depend on more than 300 transboundary aquifer systems (Du and Zhong, 2011). exploit water sources within their jurisdiction rather than investing in water management strategies. The only remaining water sources that can now be developed are mostly transboundary in nature (Biswas, 1999; Black and King, 2009). Countries manage their shared waterways by considering their own national priorities, commonly neglecting upstream or downstream water needs (Kreamer, 2012; Zeitun, 2013). As this trend grows, pressure on improved management and institutional governance at the national and international levels challenges the state's responsibility to address contemporary cross-border issues and future threats (Suhardiman and Giordano, 2012; Tarlock, 2000 ). While the role of state actors as key actors in international water affairs is not questionable, it is agreed that their role has been insufficient to understand the real challenges of transboundary water management. The participation of non-state networks, institutional soft power alliances on decision-making processes and the existence of scalar relationships and interactions between regional, national, subnational and local influences are recognized (Sanchez and Kaiser, 2011; Zeitoun.. .... half of the document ......climate change as one of the challenges for transboundary water management, the current international legal framework (bilateral and multilateral agreements) will also be negatively affected In general, transboundary agreements were not designed to faced with increasing climate variability, as they are often limited by strict definitions of water allocation rather than percentages. The certainty of climate variability results in greater pressure on alternative governance structures, potentially diminishing the legitimacy of weak international agreements. (Suhardiman and Giordano, 2012) The United Nations declaration of 2013 as the International Year of Cooperation, which encourages states and other non-state actors to promote actions to achieve cooperation in water-related goals, addresses the international need for new cross-border governance assessments..