The development of a sustainable institutional framework for cooperation between lake states in the management of lake resources will be crucial for the success of the project. The objective of the present study is to provide relevant documentation and to raise the problems that may be encountered in order to facilitate discussions that will take place between governments and in order to lead to an agreement in principle on the form of the possible convention that would be concluded between the four states and on the elements that could be included in it. The examples are drawn from a range of other international conventions on integrated resource management and various observations are made as to the success or failures of these conventions in order to draw on past experiences and develop a legal framework that will allow for the effective implementation of the objectives of the project (not only in theory but also in practice).