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ADB Helping to Improve Water Management in Central Asia

TASHKENT, UZBEKISTAN (7 December 2005) - Government officials from Central Asia are discussing opportunities for improving regional water management in a meeting being held this week in Tashkent.

A Working Group Meeting is discussing interstate agreements on the Syr Darya Basin under an ADB regional technical assistance project to improve management of shared water resources in Central Asia.

This is to be followed by training on integrated water resources management in Tashkent. Participants from all Central Asian Republics representing different government agencies involved in the water sector are taking part.

The training - for representatives of the water, energy and environment agencies from the Central Asian republics and Basin Water Organizations - focuses on integrated water resource management, conflict resolution in the interstate water allocation and use, and improvement and harmonization of water related legislation.

Central Asia is a relatively water-rich subregion compared to many other parts of Asia with annual per capita water use of about 2,600 m3. However, most of countries in the region face irrigation water shortages due to inefficiencies at main systems and on-farm level.

This causes environmental and social problems, including: climate change, degradation of delta ecosystems, damage to the fishing and recreation industries, declining irrigated agriculture and, as a result, migration of population. All this have a direct impact on the livelihoods of people living in the region. Strengthened regional cooperation among the CARs is key to effectively addressing these complex challenges.

"ADB is very active in regional cooperation in Central Asia and is providing assistance at both the regional and individual country level," says Sean O'Sullivan, ADB's Country Director in Uzbekistan. "We hope that this Working Group Meeting and training will help to move forward with complex task of improving regional water management for the benefits of people in Central Asia."

The $700,000 regional technical assistance was approved in December 2003 to strengthen Central Asian cooperation on the management of shared water resources in the Aral Sea Basin and other transboundary basins. The TA will

• Improve transboundary water management on a pilot basis to demonstrate good basin management practices in two smaller catchment areas as examples
• Facilitate regional water policy discussions among regional stakeholders on high priority water policy issues with special focus on extension and revision of the 1998 Framework Agreement on water and energy use in the Syr Darya basin
• Build regional water management capacity for regional water management institutions and their national affiliates for efficient management of shared water resources.

Initially the Chui and Talas River basins in the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan were selected for the pilot, and recently Central Asian countries proposed to include the Amu Darya basin in the project and invite representatives of Afghanistan to participate in training activities.

The RETA is being carried out in close collaboration with the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination, an executing body of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, and the international donor community, including the Global Water Partnership, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, UNDP, and World Bank.

ADB has been helping individual countries in Central Asia bring in key policy reforms in the water sector, strengthen existing and develop new institutions such as basin administrations and water users associations, and rehabilitate main irrigation and water supply infrastructure. This has been supported by $270 million of funding from ADB to the Central Asian republics.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is owned by 64 members - 46 from the region. In 2004, it approved loans and technical assistance totaling $5.3 billion and $196.6 million, respectively.

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