Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management in Central Asia (NATO Science Series: IV: Earth and Environmental Sciences)

190 Pages·2007·2.7 MB·English

by  Patricia Wouters

Implementing Integrated
Water Resources Management in
Central Asia
NATO Science Series
ASeriespresentingtheresultsofscientificmeetingssupportedundertheNATOScience
Programme.
TheSeriesispublishedbyIOSPress,Amsterdam,andSpringerinconjunctionwiththeNATO
PublicDiplomacyDivision.
Sub-Series
I. LifeandBehaviouralSciences IOSPress
II. Mathematics,PhysicsandChemistry Springer
III.ComputerandSystemsScience IOSPress
IV. EarthandEnvironmentalSciences Springer
TheNATOScienceSeriescontinuestheseriesofbookspublishedformerlyastheNATOASISeries.
TheNATOScienceProgrammeofferssupportforcollaborationincivilsciencebetweenscientistsof
countriesoftheEuro-AtlanticPartnershipCouncil.Thetypesofscientificmeetinggenerallysupported
are“AdvancedStudyInstitutes”and“AdvancedResearchWorkshops,”andtheNATOScienceSeries
collects together the results of these meetings. The meetings are co-organized by scientists from
NATOcountriesandscientistsfromNATO’sPartnercountries—countriesoftheCISandCentraland
EasternEurope.
AdvancedStudyInstitutesarehigh-leveltutorialcoursesofferingin-depthstudyoflatestadvances
inafield.
AdvancedResearchWorkshopsareexpertmeetingsaimedatcriticalassessmentofafield,and
identificationofdirectionsforfutureaction.
AsaconsequenceoftherestructuringoftheNATOScienceProgrammein1999,theNATOScience
Serieswasre-organizedtothefoursub-seriesnotedabove.Pleaseconsultthefollowingwebsitesfor
informationonpreviousvolumespublishedintheSeries.
http://www.nato.int/science
http://www.springer.com
http://www.iospress.nl
SeriesIV:EarthandEnvironmental–Vol.77
Implementing Integrated
Water Resources Management in
Central Asia
editedby
Patricia Wouters
UniversityofDundee,U.K.
Victor Dukhovny
ScientificInformationCenterofInterstateCoordination
WaterCommissionTashkent,Uzbekistan
and
Andrew Allan
UniversityofDundee,U.K.
PublishedincooperationwithNATOPublicDiplomacyDivision
ProceedingsoftheNATOAdvancedResearchWorkshopon
IntegratedResourcesManagementinTransboundaryBasins–An
InterstateandIntersectoralApproach
Bishkek,Kyrgyzstan
23–28February2004
AC.I.P.CataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress.
ISBN 978-1-4020-5731-1(PB)
ISBN 978-1-4020-5730-4(HB)
ISBN 978-1-4020-5732-8(e-book)
PublishedbySpringer,
P.O.Box17,3300AADordrecht,TheNetherlands.
www.springer.com
Printedonacid-freepaper
AllRightsReserved
(cid:2)C 2007Springer
Nopartofthisworkmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedin
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recordingorotherwise,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthePublisher,withtheexception
ofanymaterialsuppliedspecificallyforthepurposeofbeingenteredandexecutedona
computersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserofthework.
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
INTEGRATEDWATERRESOURCES
MANAGEMENT—INTERNATIONALBESTPRACTICE
IntegratedWaterResourcesManagement:TheoryandPractice 3
A.DanTarlock
INTEGRATEDWATERRESOURCESMANAGEMENT:
EXPERIENCEINTHEARALSEABASIN
CharacteristicFeaturesofIntegratedWaterResources
ManagementintheSyrdaryaRiverBasin 25
M.Kh.Khamidov
ParticularCharacteristicsofIntegratedWaterResources
Management(IWRM)intheAmudaryaRiverBasin 35
Yu.Khudaiberganov
IWRMFinancial,Economic,andLegalAspects:TheExample
ofthe“IWRM-Ferghana”Project 45
A.Jaloobayev
EnsuringofStabilityandEvenWaterDistributionatNational
andLocalLevels 55
A.I.Tuchin
TheFutureofthePriaralie 81
T.Kamalov
SOCIOECONOMICASPECTSOFINTEGRATEDWATER
RESOURCESMANAGEMENTINCENTRALASIA
OnPublicParticipationinWaterResourcesManagement 89
A.D.Ryabtsev
v
vi CONTENTS
WaterProductivityIncrease—TheMainGoalofIWRMand
WaystoOvercomePoverty 95
Sh.Muhamedzhanov
ImplementationoftheAralSeaBasinSocioeconomicModel:
AnAssessmentoftheOpportunitiestobeGainedThrough
RegionalEconomicIntegration 105
MakhmudT.RuzievandValeriyG.Prikhodko
ADDRESSINGTHENEEDFORINTEGRATEDWATER
RESOURCESMANAGEMENTATTHEREGIONALLEVEL
ProspectsforCentralAsiaDevelopment—IntegratedWater
ResourcesManagementasRegionalIssuesSolution 127
V.A.Dukhovny
Interstate,Inter-SectoralScientificandPracticalIntegration 139
AbdukohirA.Nazirov
TheRoleofStrategicandNationalPlanningintheDevelopment
ofWaterManagement 147
T.Altyev
TransferofWaterResourcesManagementToward
BasinPrinciples 157
A.A.Djalalov
BasinManagementBasedonResourceConservation 167
Zh.BekbolotovandA.Jaloobayev
FOREWORD
“Withoutwaterthereisnolife”
ThisbookistheresultofacollaborativeprojectbetweentheUNESCOCentre
for Water Law, Policy and Science (formerly the International Water Law
ResearchInstitute)attheUniversityofDundee,andtheScientificInformation
CenteroftheInterstateCommissionforWaterCoordinationintheAralSea
basin(SICICWC).Theprojectwasdedicatedtoexaminingthepracticalissues
of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in Central Asia, and
culminated in a workshop held at Bishkek in February 2004. The workshop
brought together some of the leading experts in the field and resulted in
importantinsightsintosomeoftheissuessurroundingthetransboundaryand
nationalmanagementoftheregion’ssharedfreshwater.However,thespeedof
developmentsintheregionhasbeensorapidthatevenintherelativelyshort
timesincetheworkshoptookplace,significantchangeshavetakenplace.
AsaconsequenceofthedisintegrationoftheSovietUnionandtheresult-
ingemergenceoffivenewlyindependentstatesinCentralAsia—Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—the water resources
thatinthepastwerethesovereigndomainofasinglecountry(USSR)hadbe-
cometransboundary.Thisprecipitatedtheneedforfindingnewapproachesto
managethenowtransboundarywatersofthetwomainriversoftheregion—
the Amudarya and Syrdarya Rivers—in order to meet national demands of
thefivesovereignStatesthatdependeduponthesewaters.Thus,inSeptember
1991,1monthafterindependence,thenationalMinistersofwaterresources
fromeachofthefivecountriesconcludedandsignedadocumentsettingforth
theagreedneedforjointwatermanagementofthebasinwaters.OnFebruary
18,1992,anagreementwasreachedontheproceduresforsuchmanagement
and the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) was estab-
lishedasthemanagementagencyresponsibleforthejointmanagementofthe
transboundarywatersintheregion.
Fromitsbeginningsintheearly1990s,theinternationalcooperationofthe
CentralAsiancountriesinthefieldofwaterresourceshasfurtherdeveloped
and matured, primarily through the efforts of the ICWC as a focal coordi-
nating joint body. Through years of cooperative endeavors the approaches
to water resources management adopted in the region have emerged as rel-
atively unique in many ways. There are very few other examples from the
world’s250transboundarybasinswherewaterresourceplanningandregula-
tiontakesplaceattheinterstatelevel,andwherecontinuouseffortsrelatedto
vii
viii FOREWORD
theallocationofwaterresourcesareundertakenonaregularbasis.Following
is a list of some of the major achievements accomplished over the course of
recentyears:
(cid:2)
ThreeinternationalagreementsbetweentheCentralAsianStates,signedby
theHeadsofState,andtwoframeworkagreementsonwatermanagement,
were adopted during the last decade demonstrating the political will to
engageincollaborationaimedatachievingaconflict-freewaterallocation
betweentheparties.
(cid:2)
The ICWC has maintained continuous water management, planning, and
controlwithrespecttotheutilizationoftransboundaryriversthroughboth
its operational bodies and the mechanism of regular (quarterly) meetings
of the parties. In addition to addressing annual and seasonal water allo-
cation matters, these meetings consider strategic concerns, including the
improvementofmanagementsystems,implementationofinformationand
data monitoring systems, integrated management of water resources, and
soforth.Intotal,43meetingsoftheICWChavebeenheld.
(cid:2)
Despite extreme weather variations over the last few years, including two
particularly humid and three exceptionally dry years, the ICWC has suc-
ceededinpreventingconflictsrelatingtowatermanagement,allocation,and
usethroughextensiveandwell-coordinatedactions.Asaresultoftheseef-
forts the total annual water withdrawals in the region have been reduced
from110to103km3.
(cid:2)
The regional Information System and information portal that integrate
systematic data from both national water institutions and basin water-
management organizations were established with the support of the
EuropeanUnionandtheSwissDevelopmentAgency.
(cid:2)
The countries of the region have established effective advanced capacity-
development systems in the form of the regional Training Centre and its
national branches. Over the last 5 years, more than 2000 medium- and
higher-level experts and specialists from water-management institutions
and water user associations received training. In addition, 2500 farmers
receiveannualtrainingthroughanetworkofdemonstrationplots.
(cid:2)
Theso-called“integratedwaterresourcesmanagement”approach(IWRM)
was recognized as the most appropriate method of ensuring sustainable
water use and development in the region in the context of growing water
scarcity. Accordingly a wide range of specific measures for rational water
use have been implemented at the national level. The implementation of
IWRM in the three selected irrigation systems in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
and Uzbekistan demonstrated the effectiveness and practicability of this
approach.
FOREWORD ix
However, as evidenced by the joint activity progress reports and outside
observers, some of the ICWC activities, especially those related to the elab-
oration of regional water policy and further improvement of relevant legal
frameworks,havenotadvancedasmuchandasquicklyaswasinitiallyhoped.
These concerns were addressed in detail at the workshop in Bishkek, which
brought together all ICWC members, including leaders of the five national
waterdepartments,managersofthetworiverbasinorganizations,aswellas
prominentinternationalandlocalexperts.Theirpaperspublishedinthisbook
analyzeboththecurrentstateofthewatermanagementoftransboundarywa-
terresourcesintheAralSeabasin,itsstrengthsandweaknesses,anddiscuss
ways to further improve the overall effectiveness of transboundary regional
cooperationinthefield.
The opening paper by Professor Tarlock provides a general review of
IWRMprinciplesandassessestheirevolutionfromtheperspectiveofcurrent
worlddevelopmenttrends.Thesetrends,inhisopinion,areformedbyashift
intheunderstandingofwaterresourcesaspublicpropertytoaperceptionof
waterasafactorinsustainabledevelopmentattheintersectionofcompeting
interests.
ItshouldbenotedinthisrespectthathistoricallytheCentralAsiantradi-
tiongaveprioritytonatureinwaterdemandmanagementandindetermining
the limits of acceptable water withdrawals from rivers. This tradition also
imposed strict limitations on water use and distribution. Public water man-
agement in the context of the Islamic Sharia law included both appointment
of water managers by the public, public participation in all water activities,
water distribution rules “from root water users to upper levels” and pub-
lic arbitration of all water disputes, all of which are features of the modern
IWRM.
Current efforts to reach an appropriate balance between, for example,
commercialenergyinterestsandirrigatedagriculturefacealmostimpossible
challengesinthecontextoftheexistingupwardtrendsinenergyprices,along
withthedeclineofagriculturalproductionprices(exacerbatedbythedestruc-
tive impact of agricultural subsidies in developed countries). Consequently,
differentapproachesareneededachieveaproperbalancebetweencompeting
demands and here the unique experience of the USA–Canada International
JointCommissionisinstructive.
The emphasis of modern transboundary water law on the principle of
equitable and reasonable use causes problems of implementation because
of the lack of precise criteria implicit in the concept. New approaches to
the application of equitable and reasonable use have recently emerged as
demonstratedbytheLegalAssessmentModel(LAM),developedbythewater
resourceexpertsfromtheUniversityofDundee.Othertoolstoaddresswater