The document summarizes a water management program funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and implemented in cooperation with various partners in Central Asia between 2009-2017. The program aimed to develop practical approaches for sustainable regional water management in Central Asia. It supported projects in river basins to rehabilitate irrigation infrastructure, improve hydrological monitoring, establish basin management plans, and facilitate transboundary cooperation. The program also included an EU-funded component to build institutional capacity for integrated water resources management and increase public participation in the water sector in several Central Asian countries.

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A programme
funded by
In cooperation
with
Transboundary Water Management in
Central Asia Programme
20/04/2015
Practical experiences from water
management projects in the context of
irrigated agriculture in Central Asia

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Key facts
Political context
Donor
Central element of a water initiative for Central Asia – the ‘Berlin Process’ (since
2008); EU Strategy for Central Asia
German Federal Foreign Office;
Phase II contains two EU-actions (WMBOCA Component, EURECA )
Period Phase I 04/2009 – 12/2011; Phase II 2012 -12/2014 ; Phase III 2015 – 12/2017
Funding incl. EU Actions 23 Mio. EUR
Programme objective
The Central Asian states jointly develop practical approaches for sustainable
regional water management and implement selected measures.
Regional Scope |
Political Partners
All 5 Central Asian states
• National partners:
Ministries / Committees responsible for Water Resources in 5 CAS
+ MFAs
+ Ministry of Energy and Industry of TJ (Phase I)
+ Ministry of Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan
• Main regional partner:
EC IFAS
(Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea)
Implementation Partners UNECE, CAREC

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EU Co-Financing:
Water Management and Basin Organisations in Central Asia
(WMBOCA)
• Component of EU Regional Environmental Programme for
Central Asia (EURECA)
• 2 Lots, totaling 2,5 Mio EUR – with contribution of 0,5 Mio EUR
from German Federal Foreign Office
• Implemented from 01/2012 – 08/2014 in cooperation with CAREC
in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
Subcomponent 1: institutional capacity
development for IWRM in river basins
Subcomponent 2: Public awareness and
participation in the water sector
Funded by the
European Union

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Water from the mountains feeds irrigation fields in the valleys.
Fed mainly by snowmelt, riverbeds are full with water in spring and almost dry in late summer.

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Source: Executive Committee, International Fund for saving the Aral Sea

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Facing the legacy of the Soviet Union: Challenges for
water management after independence
• The remnants of the drying Aral Sea, now shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
• Large agricultural areas suffering from degradation and salinisation
• Huge hydro-technical facilities and infrastructural systems that had to be
maintained (approx. 50.000 km inter-farm, 250.000 km on farm irrigation canals;
80 reservoirs > 100 mln m³; pumping irrigation accounting for up to 20 % of
national energy consumption)
• The dissolution of the centralised agency that managed water allocation and
provided for implementation
• A water management system mainly oriented at agricultural needs, entitling the
downstream states to use most of the water
• The discontinuation of the water-energy exchange system that delivered energy
in the form of coal and gas to the upstream states in winter, in exchange for
water withdrawal in the growing period in spring and summer.

7. Page 7Type presentation title here20/04/2015
Pumps

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Water efficiency
Type presentation title here20/04/2015
Trends…
Public Private Partnerships
…for local production of water saving
equipment?

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Financing water infrastructure / water accounting
Type presentation title here20/04/2015
Water accounting is the process of communicating water resources related
information and the services generated from consumptive use in a
geographical domain, such as a river basin, a country or a land use class,
to users such as policy makers, water authorities, managers, etc.
Trends…

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The River Basin Approach
Many endeavours for finding region-wide water agreements failed due to the
intricate regional constellation. Thus, GIZ facilitated exemplary cooperation in
smaller trans-boundary river basins. Some concrete examples are:
• Rehabilitation of irrigation channels and headworks for better control of water
distribution and reduction of water losses
• Rehabilitation of hydrological monitoring posts and equipment with electronic
sensors for reliable data on water flow and withdrawal
• Data collection and management including reporting to the national level in order
to have a proper base for informed decisions
• Development of watershed & land use maps to enable long-term planning
• Basin-specific scenarios of climate change and its impacts in order to improve
adaptation measures and disaster prevention
• Integrating all stakeholders in Basin Planning / Implementation of Basin Plans
inter alia by providing for Public Participation, establishment of Basin Councils as
consultative bodies for water management authorities
• Establishment of a transboundary coordination and cooperation mechanism

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KG-TJ Inter-
ministerial
Working Group
Local Governments of
Sugd Oblast, Isfara
and Kanibadan
Rayon
Local Governments
of BatkenOblast,
Batkenand Leylek
Rayon
NGOs, WUAs,
farmers and local
population
NGOs, WUAs,
farmers and local
population
Programme
Steering Group
GIZ-Programme
Action Team
Government of
Kyrgyzstan
Government of
Tajikistan
Ministry of
Amelioration and
Water Resources
WMO of
Sugd Oblast,
Isfara and
KanibadanRayon
WMO of
BatkenOblast,
Batkenand Leylek
Rayon
Department of
Water Resources
and Melioration at
the Ministry of
Agriculture and
Melioration
International
Partners: SDC,
USAID-CAREC
International
Experts (CAREC,
GIZ)
Representatives
from related
sectors
Basin Committee
of Isfara River
Joint Water
Commission
Secretariat of
Isfara Basin
Committee
TJ KG
Basin Planning
Working Group
Representatives
from related
sectors
Basin
Council
EU
Framework
Agreement -
mechanism of
cooperation
Database
tools and
management
Joint
institutions
Basin
planningPublic
participation
Infrastructure
Pilot Projects
Basin Planning & The case of the Isfara River
Trans-boundary cooperation

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A programme
funded by
In cooperation
with
Thank you!
20/04/2015
http://www.waterca.org