this is the subprogram on pastures of #1
Technical Assistance to institutions.
This community-based approach might be inspiring also for Wecoop2, even if we support political processes.
This report describes the role of glaciers in the stream flow of the rivers of the Aral Basin. The study area contains the mountain basins at the headwaters of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, located primarily in the Pamir, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, and western Tien Shan mountains. The Amu Darya study area includes the mountain basins of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers; the Syr Darya study area includes the mountain basins of the Naryn, Kara, and Chirchik rivers, and a number of small basins on the north-facing slopes of the Alai Range. There are presently no credible conceptual models describing the hydrometeorological environments of the high mountains of Asia that quantify the glacier melt component. Furthermore, there is a general lack of sufficient data to test hypotheses that relate glaciers and rivers, either as a result of a lack of a current monitoring program, or as a result of a reluctance to share these data on the part of some governments. The purpose of this study is to assess the role of the glaciers in the Pamir, Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Alai, and Tien Shan mountains in the volume and timing of stream flow of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, and, in terms of these finding, to discuss the implications of the general retreat of glaciers for the water resources. Results are presented primarily in graphical and tabular form, and only the most salient conclusions are drawn.
Project Development Objective
The objective of the Central Asia Hydrometeorology Modernization Project (CAHMP) is to
improve the accuracy and timeliness of hydromet services in Central Asia, with particular focus
on Kyrgyz Republic and Republic of Tajikistan.
Project description
The CAHMP proposes three components:
Component A: Strengthening regional coordination and information sharing: This component
will ensure that each of the National Hydrometeorological Services (NHMSs) in the region can
share, use, exchange and archive common hydromet data and information, and that each agency
has a comparable level of expertise in the production of information and delivery of hydromet
services.
Component B: Strengthening of Hydromet Services in Kyrgyz Republic: The component will
help strengthen Kyrgyzhydromet to ensure that it has the infrastructure and capability to
sustainably observe, forecast and deliver weather, water and climate services that meet the
country’s identified economic and societal needs.
Component C: Strengthening of Hydromet Services in Republic of Tajikistan: The component
will help strengthen Tajikhydromet to ensure that it has the infrastructure and capability to
sustainably observe, forecast and deliver weather, water and climate services that meet the
country’s identified economic and societal needs.
The development objective of the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for the Aral Sea Basin Project for Central Asia is to enhance regionally coordinated access to improved climate change knowledge services for key stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, communities, and civil society) in participating Central Asian countries, as well as to increase investments and capacity building that, combined, will address climate challenges common to these countries. The project comprises of three components. The first component, regional climate knowledge services, will provide technical assistance, as well as minor civil works, goods (including software and equipment), and training, at both the regional and national levels, to develop a unified, integrated regional analytical platform for climate-resilient and low emission development, with improved data, information, knowledge, and decision-support tools. The second component, regional climate investment facility, will provide technical assistance and facilitation support to plan, implement, and manage climate investments. The second component consists of following two sub-components: (i) investment financing; and (ii)capacity building and community support. The third component, regional and national coordination consists of the following two sub-components:(i) regional coordination; and (ii)national coordination.
2 components:
Component 1. Fostering Regional Institutional Cooperation
The economies of the five Central Asian states rely heavily on the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, as well as other transboundary river basins, to meet their water needs. Because of this, their economies are interdependent. Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the countries at the lower reaches of these two rivers, require considerable volumes of water to irrigate their agricultural lands. Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which lie further upstream, have scarcely any raw materials for generating power and are therefore seeking to make more intensive use of hydropower.
Although there are already institutions in Central Asia that regulate matters of water distribution, such as the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) or the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), their work is hampered by their weak position in the political system. No universally recognised and implemented guidelines are in place for the water sector.
The German Federal Foreign Office (AA) has commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to help enable the relevant institutions in the region to create sustainable regional water management structures, which take account of issues relating to water use, energy and the climate. These activities were being implemented in close cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
Within this first component GIZ continued to support the Central Asian institutions responsible for managing water distribution such as the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) or the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea (IFAS). The programme aimed to strengthen their institutional capacity and continuity, as well foster cooperation with other regional institutions such as the Interstate Commission for Sustainable Development (ICSD).
GIZ also focused at larger transboundary river basins by up-scaling successful practices gained in smaller river basins during Phase II of the Berlin Process.
Central Asia is a region with scarce water resources, many of which cut across national borders. Countries in the region use these resources intensively, in particular for hydroelectric power generation and irrigation, and conflicts of interest are arising in how these waters are used and shared.
The programme coordinated closely with other major donors and implementing agencies: Swiss Development Cooperation, World Bank, USAID, UNDP, ADB, EU, OECD, OSCE and others.
In the context of implementation of the activities in the framework of the EU actions “Water Management and Basin Organisations in Central Asia”, the GIZ Transboundary Water Management in Central Asia Programme also actively participated and contributed to the National Policy Dialogues of the European Water Initiative.
Component 2. Strengthening transboundary river basin management
This component focused especially on the smaller rivers, which are particularly suited to applying the basic principles of river basin management. Measures included drawing up inventories and management plans, making proposals in the field of dam safety and the environmental impacts of dams, and supporting the establishment of monitoring systems and data exchange. GIZ workedin close consultation with the European Commission, which is highly active in this field.
Growing demand for water in all sectors of all Central Asian states as well as increasing uncertainty about future water availability in the course of climate change make water resources management in Central Asia a challenge. This situation is even more complex in transboundary river basins, where inter-sector needs are linked with national interests of neighboring countries. Therefore the application of water resources planning and IWRM principles in the context of river basins are the most crucial elements for sustainable water management. Development and implementation of basin plans enable national water management organizations to cope with increasing demand from different economic sectors and population growth in the context of increasing uncertainty of water resources availability. Therefore modern water management should be based on a wide range of present day data and information systems such as geographical information systems, mobile communication and data bases. All these technologies support better decision making in the water sector.
There have been various attempts by international organizations to develop such systems for Central Asia. However they failed because the data management systems which had been developed were imposed on water management organizations without considering their needs and ideas. Taking former experiences into account the TWMCA programme had three interlinked components to strengthen water management capacities: (i) Technical support to partner WMOs to create data management instruments, (ii) train and create human capacity to operate data management tools and (iii) encourage WMOs to apply Data management tools for short and long term decision making on water management.
From the beginning, these data base management tools were designed in terms of its structure, content, interface and format in close consultations and cooperation with partner WMOs. The Data Base Management tools, developed during the project consist of two interrelated instruments: i) A Data Base System with tabular information and ii) GIS based land use maps.
Furthermore the WMOs were supported with the following concrete measures:
Improving databases on land use, especially regarding irrigation, soil and water resources, and hydraulic infrastructure inventory.
Equipping WMOs with computer terminals for using ArcGIS software and database management
Training local staff in using GIS, satellite imageries and remote sensing tools for comprehensive river basin analyses and planning
Providing support to the development of comprehensive river basin analyses and plans.
Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have set up Interstate Commission for joint management of water resources in the basins of Chu river and of Talas river. However, a serious challenge for integrated water resources management remains to establish a data management system for which capacities are increasingly depleting. The project established a monitoring system for both basins by upgrading the monitoring infrastructure generating real time data and capacities in both basins, thus supporting the Interstate Commission in decision making based on solid analysis and data.
Overall objective of the project is to develop individual and institutional capacities for joint river basin planning in selected transboundary rivers and sub-basins. Location : Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan
The first phase of the Syr Darya Control and Northern Aral Sea (NAS) Project, seeked to sustain, and increase agriculture, and fish production in the Syr Darya basin, and secure the NAS existence, by improving ecological and environmental conditions in the delta area. Project components include: 1) restoration of the NAS area, through the construction of a closure dike in the Berg Strait, a channel connecting the NAS, and the larger southern Aral Sea (LAS), and, conveying additional flows into the NAS. Now, excessive spills could be diverted into the Arnasai depression into the Syr Darya river. Flood protection dikes were constructed to reduce river losses. Major obstructions to river flows between the Chardarah dam and the NAS were removed, to straighten the river at three locations; 2) improvements were made on the hydraulic control of the Syr Darya, through an increased capacity of the Syr Darya entity, and diverting downstream flows towards the delta ecosystem to further restore the NAS. Major water infrastructures were rehabilitated on the Syr Darya and Karaozek branch, to improve irrigated areas, lakes, and hayfields in the basin, while river bed erosion resulting from receding sea water levels was also be improved, through the installation of weirs at Aklak, and hydraulic works for delta lakes, and wetland ecosystems; 3) rehabilitation of the Chardara dam, through the financing of a first phase program, provided the dam embankment stability was ensured, and additional geo-technical research, and, further hydrological research were undertaken; 4) aquatic resources restoration, and fisheries development through detailed preparation, and implementation phases, anticipating technical assistance, policy reforms, and a new cooperative trading organization, in addition to co-financing possibilities; and, 5) monitoring and evaluation were provided.
The development objective of the Second Irrigation and Drainage Improvement Project for Kazakhstan was to improve irrigation and drainage service delivery to support farmers in the project areas. There were four components to the project. The first component of the project is rehabilitation and modernization of Irrigation and Drainage (I&D) systems infrastructure. The second component of the project is sustainable Management, Operation and Maintenance (MOM) of I&D systems. This component supported to: modernizing and strengthening of on farm water management, and modernizing and strengthening of the MOM of the main irrigation and drainage system. The third component of the project was agricultural development. This component supported to: strengthen farmer’s capacity through: 1) improving farm management and land use; 2) supporting knowledge transfer on innovative agro-techniques; and 3) supporting agro cooperatives, including establishing and strengthening the enabling Farmers Services Centers (FSCs). The fourth component of the project was project management, technical assistance and training. The component included operational support for the Project Management Unit (PMU) established within Committee of Water Resources (CWR).
The overall goal of all CA Leadership program are to: (i) motivate comprehensive thinking and ability of make decisions among young professionals as well as representatives of middle government level, private sector and civil society; (ii) motivate integration of environment and sustainable development topics for effective decision making; (iii) create and develop network between new leaders of Central Asia that represent Government, civil society and private sector.
