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OOQ356 DRAFT-Not for distribution The precautionary principle could conceivably be asserted by Mexican environmental interests if the principle is accepted in its broad capacity (as described in the Wingspread Statement). It could be argued that the environmental condition of the Colorado River Delta is exacerbated by the failure to deliver additional surplus water and that precautionary measures (delivery of water) should be taken, with the burden of proving that no harm would be caused (by the retention of water) being placed on water users in the United States. Again, this application would depend on a far more expansive interpretation of the principle itself than that which has been accepted to datel60 and would, additionally, expand the principle out of the pollution context into the natural resource management context. g. Conclusion In sum, customary international law principles, individually and in the aggregate, at least as they stand today, do not mandate international ecological flows. There is, however, a trend line in international customary law toward environmental protection as a component of the prevailing driver of international cooperation, namely sustainable development. The emergence ofthis trend arguably is too nascent, however, to be a strong basis of any current claims or request for treaty amendment sounding in international law. C. Peremptory Norms Finally, there is a category of rules that, while infrequently applied, may supersede both treaties and regular customary laws. International law recognizes the concept that some norms- jus cogens or "peremptory norms,,161-are so profoundly basic, persistent and universal that even treaties are subservient to them. Such norms apply to non-consenting nations and probably the unilateral acts of nations. 162 The peremptory norms most widely acknowledged are "the interdiction ofthe use of force," and "the prohibition of genocide and slavery.,,163 One commentator has suggested that the norm against "ecocide" ("willful serious damage to the environment during armed conflicts") passes the peremptory threshold, whereas a "general prohibition of causing or not preventing environmental damage that threatens the international community as a whole," willful or not, while tending toward jus cogens status, has not yet reached that status. 164 While it has been argued that the right to development, through the unfettered use and exploitation of domestic natural resources, enjoys the status of jus cogens,165 it probably does not, because of the concomitant obligation to use them without harm. Even the princiRle of reasonable and equitable use of international waters does not rise to the jus cogens level. 66 While there presently is no peremptory norm bearing on the issue of ecological flows for international rivers, it is difficult to know what the future holds. Remote, but conceivable, is the possibility that "a general prohibition of causing or not preventing environmental damage that threatens the international community as a whole"167 could become a peremptory norm. (Even then, however, the protection of ecological flows in a particular international waterway such as the Colorado River would not likely be considered a threat to the international community as a whole.) For the foreseeable future, there is no indication that a preemptory norm will arise requiring ecological flows across international borders. Closer, but still some distance from 15