Introduction

Scarcity of water resources due to hydrological variability has led governments to adopt measures that may collide with foreign investors' assets. An example aptly summarising such occurrence is the 'Cochabamba water war', led by the residents of Cochabamba, Bolivia, and triggered by the privatisation of the public water services provider that caused a sudden and extreme rise of water tariffs. The water provider was a foreign private-service provider, Aguas del Tunari S.A. The protest led the government to cancel the concession contract with the foreign investor that, in turn, initiated ...