Water resources

Tajikistan

Tajikistan Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Resources Management (PAMP 2)

The development objectives of the Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Resources Management Project are to: provide employment to food-insecure people through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, increase crop production in response to improved irrigation and drainage infrastructure, and support the development of improved policies and institutions for water resource management, as a means to improve food availability and food access for low-income people in poor rural areas supported by the project. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is public works and rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure. The second component of the project is assistance in water resources management, including technical assistance for policy and institutional reform. The third component of the project is project management. A Project Management Unit (PMU) to be managed under the World Bank-financed Ferghana valley water resource management project will be the main implementation agency. It will be responsible for: implementation and coordination, financial management and procurement, communication and awareness programs, environmental management and safeguards, and monitoring and evaluation.
————————————-
The objectives of the Additional Financing for the Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Management Project for Tajikistan are to: (i) provide employment to food insecure people through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, (ii) increase crop production in response to improved irrigation and infrastructure, and (iii) support the development of improved policies and institutions for water resource management, as a means to improve food availability and food access for low-income people in poor rural areas supported by the project. The additional funds would be used to scale-up the public works component of the project in support of government measures to create employment for low-income and food insecure population, including migrant workers returning to Tajikistan. These activities would create an estimated 10,000 person days of temporary work through rehabilitation of 2,800 km of irrigation canals to improve irrigation on 70,000 hectares of irrigated land in six districts in Khatlon and the Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS). A parallel restructuring of the project will be implemented to: (a) reflect the additional activities, (b) improve the alignment of project development objectives and project activities, and (c) reformulate the project’s relationship with its main government partners in response to a recent Government reorganization. Project design and implementation was originally based on a partnership with the Ministry of Amelioration and Water Resource Management (MAWR), which has now been replaced by a new Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MEWR). The main operating arm of the former MAWRM has also been set up as an independent agency, the Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation (ALRI), which will be the project’s implementing agency.
——–
Good progress has been made in the implementation of the PAMP II since the Bank’s last mission in January 2015. Significant progress has been made
to disbursement of funding. As of May 31, 2015 US$ 15.96 million or 35% of the total project funding (under both GAFSP and IDA Grants) have been
disbursed and most of the intermediate results indicators overachieved. The project disbursements are well on track with 90% of funds scheduled for
the first two years of project implementation fully disbursed. The mission was pleased that PMU diligently followed recommendations of the previous
mission and implemented most of the agreed actions. Notwithstanding the late start of the actual rehabilitation activities under the manual and
mechanized works sub-components, the project management team has demonstrated solid results on the ground and was able to address most of the
risks flagged by the team during the last mission. Specifically, despite of the late start of the manual and mechanized works in the second year districts,
the project succeeded in providing temporary employment opportunities to more than 7,800 beneficiaries in Jomi, Jilikul, Rumi, Rudaki, Hisor Yovon and
Panj districts in the rehabilitation season of 2014-2015. As a result, in total the project engaged more than 11,000 beneficiaries in cleaning of 3,345 km
secondary and tertiary canals within two years of implementation. Good progress was also achieved in execution of mechanized works: (i) 411 km of
collector and drainage network have been cleaned and levelled; (ii) 49 km of irrigation canals rehabilitated; (iii) 863 outlet gates and 373 observation
wells have been repaired; (iv) completed rehabilitation of the drainage pumping station in Jomi district. The Project Management Unit has already
launched preparatory works for the batch of districts scheduled for the next rehabilitation season of 2015-2016.
Positive progress is observed in implementation of the Component II. The various activities planned under the Package A (Institutional Strengthening for
Integrated Water Resources Management) are under preparation with selection of the company to be finalized by the end of July 2015. The package B
preparation hasn’t started yet as it will be initiated once the implementation of the package A is launched and the consultant’s team is mobilized.
Noteworthy to highlight that most of the missions’ recommendations of December 2014 on key actions have been well taken and have been
implemented accordingly. In total, the project is currently working with 71 WUAs (including 9 newly created WUAs and 3 WUAs, which are under
registration process) that cover 134,420 ha of irrigated area in 10 project districts, i.e. Jomi, Rumi, Jilikul, N. Khusrav, Rudaki, Hisor, Yovon, Panj, Vose
and Hamadoni. Specifically, the project has established 9 WUAs, reorganized 36 WUAs, and strengthened capacity of 23 WUAs (previously established
by USAID) since the start of project implementation. The project has also initiated construction of 24 offices for the WUAs in 6 districts. Quite
importantly, following a series of regional workshops, the issues of the simplified and VAT have been resolved, and at present none of the project WUAs
are paying these taxes.
Positive progress on the project M&E activities have been observed. The Project Monitoring and Management Information System (PMMIS) is now fully
operational and the staff responsible for the M&E system is fully conversant with all procedures. The project implementation progress rating is upgraded
to “satisfactory” mainly due to improvements observed in the quality of mechanized works, progress achieved in the activities on WUAs and
establishment of the solid project monitoring and information system.
Additional IDA funds in the amount of USD 12 million for the project were approved by the Board of the World Bank Executive on June 22, 2015. The
Legal Agreement between the Bank and Government was signed on August 7, 2015. As soon as the project becomes effective, the project will initiate
activities in Vakhsh and Qumsangir districts already in the upcoming rehabilitation season of 2015-2016.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Tajikistan

Additional Financing PAMP2

The development objectives of the Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Resources Management Project are to: provide employment to food-insecure people through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, increase crop production in response to improved irrigation and drainage infrastructure, and support the development of improved policies and institutions for water resource management, as a means to improve food availability and food access for low-income people in poor rural areas supported by the project. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is public works and rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure. The second component of the project is assistance in water resources management, including technical assistance for policy and institutional reform. The third component of the project is project management. A Project Management Unit (PMU) to be managed under the World Bank-financed Ferghana valley water resource management project will be the main implementation agency. It will be responsible for: implementation and coordination, financial management and procurement, communication and awareness programs, environmental management and safeguards, and monitoring and evaluation.
————————————-
The objectives of the Additional Financing for the Second Public Employment for Sustainable Agriculture and Water Management Project for Tajikistan are to: (i) provide employment to food insecure people through the rehabilitation of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, (ii) increase crop production in response to improved irrigation and infrastructure, and (iii) support the development of improved policies and institutions for water resource management, as a means to improve food availability and food access for low-income people in poor rural areas supported by the project. The additional funds would be used to scale-up the public works component of the project in support of government measures to create employment for low-income and food insecure population, including migrant workers returning to Tajikistan. These activities would create an estimated 10,000 person days of temporary work through rehabilitation of 2,800 km of irrigation canals to improve irrigation on 70,000 hectares of irrigated land in six districts in Khatlon and the Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS). A parallel restructuring of the project will be implemented to: (a) reflect the additional activities, (b) improve the alignment of project development objectives and project activities, and (c) reformulate the project’s relationship with its main government partners in response to a recent Government reorganization. Project design and implementation was originally based on a partnership with the Ministry of Amelioration and Water Resource Management (MAWR), which has now been replaced by a new Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MEWR). The main operating arm of the former MAWRM has also been set up as an independent agency, the Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation (ALRI), which will be the project’s implementing agency.
——–
Good progress has been made in the implementation of the PAMP II since the Bank’s last mission in January 2015. Significant progress has been made
to disbursement of funding. As of May 31, 2015 US$ 15.96 million or 35% of the total project funding (under both GAFSP and IDA Grants) have been
disbursed and most of the intermediate results indicators overachieved. The project disbursements are well on track with 90% of funds scheduled for
the first two years of project implementation fully disbursed. The mission was pleased that PMU diligently followed recommendations of the previous
mission and implemented most of the agreed actions. Notwithstanding the late start of the actual rehabilitation activities under the manual and
mechanized works sub-components, the project management team has demonstrated solid results on the ground and was able to address most of the
risks flagged by the team during the last mission. Specifically, despite of the late start of the manual and mechanized works in the second year districts,
the project succeeded in providing temporary employment opportunities to more than 7,800 beneficiaries in Jomi, Jilikul, Rumi, Rudaki, Hisor Yovon and
Panj districts in the rehabilitation season of 2014-2015. As a result, in total the project engaged more than 11,000 beneficiaries in cleaning of 3,345 km
secondary and tertiary canals within two years of implementation. Good progress was also achieved in execution of mechanized works: (i) 411 km of
collector and drainage network have been cleaned and levelled; (ii) 49 km of irrigation canals rehabilitated; (iii) 863 outlet gates and 373 observation
wells have been repaired; (iv) completed rehabilitation of the drainage pumping station in Jomi district. The Project Management Unit has already
launched preparatory works for the batch of districts scheduled for the next rehabilitation season of 2015-2016.
Positive progress is observed in implementation of the Component II. The various activities planned under the Package A (Institutional Strengthening for
Integrated Water Resources Management) are under preparation with selection of the company to be finalized by the end of July 2015. The package B
preparation hasn’t started yet as it will be initiated once the implementation of the package A is launched and the consultant’s team is mobilized.
Noteworthy to highlight that most of the missions’ recommendations of December 2014 on key actions have been well taken and have been
implemented accordingly. In total, the project is currently working with 71 WUAs (including 9 newly created WUAs and 3 WUAs, which are under
registration process) that cover 134,420 ha of irrigated area in 10 project districts, i.e. Jomi, Rumi, Jilikul, N. Khusrav, Rudaki, Hisor, Yovon, Panj, Vose
and Hamadoni. Specifically, the project has established 9 WUAs, reorganized 36 WUAs, and strengthened capacity of 23 WUAs (previously established
by USAID) since the start of project implementation. The project has also initiated construction of 24 offices for the WUAs in 6 districts. Quite
importantly, following a series of regional workshops, the issues of the simplified and VAT have been resolved, and at present none of the project WUAs
are paying these taxes.
Positive progress on the project M&E activities have been observed. The Project Monitoring and Management Information System (PMMIS) is now fully
operational and the staff responsible for the M&E system is fully conversant with all procedures. The project implementation progress rating is upgraded
to “satisfactory” mainly due to improvements observed in the quality of mechanized works, progress achieved in the activities on WUAs and
establishment of the solid project monitoring and information system.
Additional IDA funds in the amount of USD 12 million for the project were approved by the Board of the World Bank Executive on June 22, 2015. The
Legal Agreement between the Bank and Government was signed on August 7, 2015. As soon as the project becomes effective, the project will initiate
activities in Vakhsh and Qumsangir districts already in the upcoming rehabilitation season of 2015-2016.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Uzbekistan

Drainage, Irrigation and Wetlands Improvement Project

The development objective of the Drainage, Irrigation, and Wetlands Improvement Project for Uzbekistan was to improve the livelihoods of poor rural households (marginalized farmers and women) in the Turtkul, Ellikkala, Beruni, and Khujakli districts of Karakalpakstan through increased income generating opportunities from sericulture and silk production by establishing and sustaining community-based silk micro-enterprises while addressing the environmental degradation of the areas caused by the decline of the Aral Sea. The project was rated satisfactory for progress towards development objectives and moderately satisfactory for implementation progress. Regional water management staff and close to 700 farmers have been trained, and training materials have been prepared. Compliance with the Bank safeguard policies was satisfactory, as was procurement and financial management. The reallocation was necessary to cover a deficit in the category ‘South Karakalpakstan Collector Drain’ in the amount of US$218,000, which was created due to exchange rate (UZS/USD) fluctuations. The required amount wwasre-allocated from the category ‘Unallocated.’

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Kazakhstan

Central Asia Energy – Water Development Program

CAEWDP was formally established as a trust fund in 2010 by the Government of Switzerland and the World Bank. The Program supports the Central Asian (CA) countries (Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) and the World Bank’s twin goals to reduce poverty and ensure shared prosperity through long-term
economic growth and sustainability. By balancing donor support with national and regional objectives, CAEWDP is able to enhance cooperation and the promotion of integrated energy and water development initiatives at the regional as well as national levels. The Program activities address the three pillars of Energy Development, Water Productivity,
and Energy-Water Linkages by producing three outcomes: support for diagnostics and analysis,
preparation of investments, and the strengthening of national and regional institutions.
In 2014, CAEWDP underwent a transformational change, as the focus of CAEWDP activities evolved from diagnostics and analytics to technical assistance (TA) and investment identification.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Kazakhstan

Dam safety in Central Asia: Capacity building for regional cooperation (phase II)

A second project phase focuses on support to the introduction or revision of national legislation on dam safety, the development of a regional cooperative framework and capacity development including training. Assist in adapting and tailoring the model law. Facilitate the harmonization of legal and institutional frameworks by supporting the exchange of experience and knowledge among the Central Asian countries. Provide support for the creation of a regional register of dams of interstate significance, containing technical data in the format agreed. Assist in preparing technical documentation on selected dams that require rehabilitation for submission to potential donors.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Kazakhstan

National Policy Dialogues on IWRM

National Policy Dialogues (NPDs) support water sector reforms in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) through assistance to Governments in: development and implementation of water strategies and legislation based on IWRM principles; strengthening intersectoral cooperation to improve water and health and implement the UNECE/WHO-Europe Protocol on Water and Health, in particular by setting and implementing targets on the whole water cycle and on the water and health nexus; development of national policies for the management of transboundary waters in accordance with the Water Convention and other international environmental instruments.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Kazakhstan

Enabling Integrated Climate Risk Assessment for CCD planning in Central Asia

Reports on climate risks in CA, specially in Kyrgyzstan, focussed on water, from a practical, hydrological and geographic point of view, scientific analysis, technical analysis, authored by Camp Alatoo in collaboration with UNDP Central Asia Climate Risk Management Program content: The Climate Risk Assessment Guide – Central Asia provides a clear and practical process to assess the impacts and outcomes of climate-related events on lives and livelihoods in Central Asia. The need the Guide arises from the region’s arid climate and the livelihoods systems based on this climate, significant impacts from climate-related damage, and regional infrastructure not designed to reflect current capacities to address climate risk impacts. Short and long-term climate risks threaten poverty reduction and developmental sustainability. Existing climate impact reports for Central Asia need to be complemented by assessment results that downscale the understanding of climate impacts in ways that support sub-national climate risk management.
The Guide is divided into three broad sections:
* Conceptual background to risk assessment,
* Methodological approaches and procedures for the Central Asia assessments process, and
* A step-by-step process for conducting assessments based leading to the development of climate risk assessment profiles or other practical outputs.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Kazakhstan

Transboundary water management in CA (Phase 2)

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.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Uzbekistan

National policy framework for water governance and integrated water resources management in Uzbekistan

Supporting water governance, this programme is part of the EU bilateral MIP 2014-2020 for Uzbekistan and promotes best European practice based on the EU Water Framework Directive.
Uzbekistan is an arid country with scant precipitation, extremely low humidity and high evaporation rates. In those places however, where even small amounts of water emerge nature blossoms out. In Uzbekistan people idolize water and glorify it in innumerable legends and stories as the basis for life. Water is identified with life and life is identified with water.
The programme brings together GIZ’s worldwide experience in supporting integrated water resources management and the expertise of its partner organisations, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Council for Research and Economics in Agriculture (CREA) and the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt). This programme component will cooperate closely with the UNDP led second component on technical capacity building for water practitioners at grass-roots level. A National Working Group consisting of all national stakeholders active in the water sector will guarantee that recommendations, policy packages, capacity building and other measures are tailor-made for the country’s needs and will contribute to an improved water governance based on European / international standards. The programme also foresees the creation of synergies with other donor activities in Uzbekistan.
The Objective
The overall objective of this programme is to contribute to sustainable and inclusive growth in the rural sector in Uzbekistan in the context of a changing climate; while improvement of water supply and efficiency of water resources management at national, basin and farm level forms its specific objective.
The GIZ implemented component on strengthening water governance aims at contributing to further development of a national water resources management strategy by enhancing legal, institutional, organizational and financial frameworks and regulatory instruments.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Kazakhstan

Promotion of Interstate Water Management Cooperation on Transboundary Chui and Talas Rivers (Phase 2)

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.

Read More »
October 29, 2023
Scroll to Top