Current Trends in Water Management in Central Asia (original) (raw)
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Nowa Polityka Wschodnia, 2018
The issue of access to water in Central Asia has a centuries-old history and it is an exceptionally complex issue. The Central Asian republics, for twenty – six years of their sovereignty, have not been able to create an effective water resource management system. This state of affairs causes constant disputes and controversies, as well as various threats – social, economic and environmental. The article explores the genesis of the problem, especially from the period of Soviet power, when huge irrigation system was created and based on two rivers: the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya. These powerful investments combined with extensive farming are the root causes of today's problems. The countries of the region tried to regulate the issue of managing the water resources by signing regional agreements in this matter, the most important are these signed in: Almaty, Kyzyl–Orda and Ashgabat. Bilateral or tripartite agreements between states were also concluded. Unfortunately, most of them were ineffective, contractual provisions remained only in writing. One could say that the cooperation between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on the rivers Chu and Talas is the only positive example. The contradictory economic and political interests of Central Asian countries were recognized as the main source of the water management system inefficiency.
Hydropolitics in Central Asia: Towards a Regional Water Regime?
The Journal of international studies, 2004
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, in Central Asia five new independent states –Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – found themselves in a highly globalised international system and a liberalized economic order. One of the reflections of the drastic changes in the dynamics of the region is the growing tension over the waters of Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. Since 1991, transboundary water management has become one of the most complex security problems among newly independent Central Asian states. This article analyses the efforts to form a regional water regime in the region, within the context of a regional security complex explanation, and explores the role of internal and external dynamics on regional cooperation over water resources.
Policy Paper –Water Issues in Central Asia: intra-regional tensions about the access to water
Due to the lack of regional cooperation in the post-Soviet era, water has become a major source of tension-even conflict-in Central Asia. The collapse of the Soviet Union has led to the disruption of a top-down system of resource management which ultimately produced a strong polarization between upstream and downstream countries. As prospects of water wars increase, the European Union could step up its conflict-prevention efforts in order to bolster its presence in a region of extreme geo-strategic importance.
Environmental Earth Sciences, 2013
This paper presents the analysis of historical transformation of water management in Central Asia with the specific focus on Uzbekistan. The time frame of the analysis is from the Middle Ages to contemporary times, with different political, social and economic settings in the framework of theory of transformative capacity of institutions. Empirical evidence suggests that the approach of the hydraulic mission has not changed dramatically over the years, but transformed into various forms of control on water management. In recent decades, integrated water resources management paradigms are gaining momentum, while the traditional, State-centric, hydraulic mission approach is losing its attractiveness in the arid Central Asian region. Nevertheless, the State-centric model of water management still persists in the region with clear signs that water management is still more under sociopolitical control.
WATER ALTERNATIVES-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL ON WATER POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT, 2023
Transboundary water conflict and cooperation are often conceptualised through the premises of national sovereignty and national interests, which leads to transboundary collaboration being perceived as detrimental to (rational) sovereign state interests. For Central Asia, this perspective has led to a preoccupation by Western, rationalist IR theorists with conflict scenarios that have not occurred. In this paper, we apply a constructivist approach to understanding Central Asian hydropolitics and relate it to the discussion of emotional aspects of international relations. We do so through an analysis of the interconnection between the ideas of 'neighbourhood' and 'nationhood' in Central Asia, through the notions of brotherhood/fraternity and informal collective decision-making for joint water management. These two aspects can explain why-even in years of political tensions and heated rhetoric around water-an understanding persisted that water issues cannot be approached or resolved through violence or one-sided actions, and (informal) cooperation contributed to conflict prevention. Based on a review of four phases of hydropolitics in Central Asia, we elaborate the notion of a regional 'water neighbourhood' to show that Western, rationalist conceptualisations of state and interstate relations fall short of explaining the different realities of transboundary water relations around the world.
RESOLUTION OF WATER ISSUES IN CENTRAL ASIA: STEPPING TOWARDS REGIONAL INTEGRATION
Throughout the annals of human history, the evolution of civilisations has been significantly influenced by the ubiquitous presence of water and its intricate interplay with diverse aspects of human existence. Water is an essential and important resource that is globally shared by all inhabitants of the Earth. The implementation of strategies aimed at forcefully segregating communities has consistently resulted in armed conflicts and disastrous occurrences. The Central Asian region has been continually impacted by water in the context of wars and border conflicts. Water plays a significant role in Central Asia, acting as a unifying and segregating element. Central Asia, despite its extensive geographical area, exhibits a limited amount of water resources. The dispute over water shortage in Central Asia has persisted for a significant period of time, rather than being a recent occurrence. The resource-sharing system that was developed in the region by the Soviet Union became obsolete after its disintegration.
The dimension of water in Central Asia: security concerns and the long road of capacity building
Environmental Earth Sciences, 2014
Central Asian water management has always been linked to energy and security politics. The region is abundant in water as well as in natural energy sources. However, distribution of these resources is a steady reason for quarrel within the region. In particular, the usage of mutually shared waterways creates tensions between different nation states. The five Central Asian republics Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan seek energy independence and try to consolidate their position within this geopolitically important region. Despite their complex interdependencies, which affect all important social, economic, political and security relevant matters, Central Asian national states have initiated a disintegration process in the region. Economic crises after decades of mutual dependence make the region dependent on foreign investments. Within this complex setting, managing transboundary waters becomes a sensitive task that seems impossible to be resolved by the affected players themselves. Central Asian water management reaches beyond the borders of the region and has long become an international concern. This article analyzes how foreign geopolitical interests shape regional water management, and how capacity building measures can lead to sustainable management from within the region.
In the framework of Political Geography of Water, this contribution examines the logics of water policies implementation in Central Asia. Reflecting on the interactions between water policies, political power, and hydraulic territories, it analyzes the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) implementation-the global water paradigm promoted by the development organizations since the mid-1990s-its logics and rationales, in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the basin / local level (Middle Zeravshan Valley, Uzbekistan / Arys Valley, Kazakhstan). Based on detailed, actor-oriented and comparative field-research in two river basins, the main findings highlight how the IWRM implementation was reconfigured by the two states in order to pursue specific socio-political strategies, in contradiction with the paradigm's aims and the narratives of international development.