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River basin management in Central Asia: evidence from Isfara Basin, Fergana Valley

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Abstract

Around the world, state water management organizations are the agents delegated to implement basin-level integrated water resources management strategies. In Central Asia, the hydrographic water management—deeming a river basin or a catchment area a proper water management unit—is a widely accepted concept. Yet, state water bureaucracies are incapable and/or reluctant to interact on water management with the “outsiders”, both domestically and internationally. To overcome this shortcoming, basin councils are promoted as formalized platforms to facilitate inter-sectoral dialogue, and likewise, to support local participatory processes within river basin planning and management. The approach offers a framework of integrating water sector planning and management with environmental, social and economic agendas of a given basin. State water management organizations are designated the role of technical secretariats of such basin councils which should be facilitating and helping to improve other stakeholders’ behavioral response in watersheds. The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the process of implementation of the river basin model through the theory of change based on issues, challenges and recommendations identified in the transboundary Central Asian Isfara River Basin shared by Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

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Notes

  1. The TWMCA Programme is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Central Asian Regional Environmental Center (CAREC) and national partners.

  2. The IFAS EC is a regional organization set up by five CA Presidents in 1992 to coordinate environmental, water management and sustainable development efforts. Since 2013, the organization has been headed by Uzbekistan.

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Acknowledgments

Project activities were co-funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and the EU Initiative on Water Management and Basin Organizations in Central Asia (WMBOCA) and have been implemented within the framework of the GIZ Transboundary Water Management in Central Asia Programme. The views expressed above do not necessarily reflect these of the funding agencies, and no official endorsement should be inferred from it. The authors would like to thank the Transboundary Water Management in Central Asia Programme, especially Dr. V. Frobarth, Prof. Dr. F. Schrader, the larger team, and numerous experts of Central Asian national water management agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC), 40, Orbita-1 Street, 050043, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Iskandar Abdullaev

  2. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Transboundary Water Management in Central Asia Programme, 7A Chimketskaya Street, 100029, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    Shavkat Rakhmatullaev

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  1. Iskandar Abdullaev
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  2. Shavkat Rakhmatullaev
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Correspondence to Shavkat Rakhmatullaev.

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This article is part of a Topical Collection in Environmental Earth Sciences on “Water in Central Asia”, guest edited by Daniel Karthe, Iskandar Abdullaev, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Dietrich Borchardt, Sergey Chalov, Jerker Jarsjö, Lanhai Li and Jeff Nittrouer.

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Abdullaev, I., Rakhmatullaev, S. River basin management in Central Asia: evidence from Isfara Basin, Fergana Valley. Environ Earth Sci 75, 677 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-016-5270-9

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