Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Challenges of Transboundary Water Resources Management in Central Asia

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Aral Sea

Part of the book series: Springer Earth System Sciences ((SPRINGEREARTH,volume 10178))

Abstract

Central Asian major river basins link the countries of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Water management in Central Asia continues to be the most important transboundary environmental issue and the biggest problem remains how to allocate water for upstream hydropower production and downstream irrigation. Disagreements between the upstream and downstream states have increased regional tensions and slowed development plans. National responses to existing cooperative opportunities are essentially driven by a policy of national self-sufficiency in energy and water. While it is reasonable to be concerned about water and/or energy security, it is also critical to understand that a policy of self-sufficiency incurs substantial costs for all. As long as self-sufficiency dominates the policy agenda, the benefits of cooperation will not materialize. International water law could provide a rational avenue toward achieving international consensus on both use and allocation of water resources in the basin, with international legal agreements to reinforce the consensus. Incentives to cooperate through the application of the benefit-sharing concept as a development model in the basin would include decreased costs and increased gains in many dimensions of regional cooperation, including the benefits that stem from better agricultural practices and its competitiveness, joint developing of the region’s energy resources, and better management of regional environmental risks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agreement (1946) Frontier Agreement between Afghanistan and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Including exchange of notes), Moscow (signed 13 June 1946, entered into force 17 January 1947) 31 UNTS 158

    Google Scholar 

  • Agreement (1992) Agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan on cooperation in the field of joint management of the use and conservation of water resources of interstate sources, Almaty (signed 18 February 1992)

    Google Scholar 

  • Agreement (1993) Agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan on joint actions for addressing the problems of the Aral Sea and its Coastal Area, improving the environment, and ensuring the social and economic development of the Aral Sea region, Kzyl-Orda (signed 26 March 1993)

    Google Scholar 

  • Agreement (1996) Agreement between the Republic of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan on cooperation in water management issues, Chardjev, Turkmenistan (signed 16 January 1996)

    Google Scholar 

  • Agreement (1998) Agreement between the Governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Republic of Uzbekistan on the use of water and energy resources of the Syr Darya Basin, Bishkek (signed 17 March 1998, Republic of Tajikistan joined in 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  • Agreement (2000) Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on the use of water management facilities of intergovernmental status on the rivers Chu and Talas, Astana (signed 21 January 2000)

    Google Scholar 

  • Almaty Declaration (1997) Almaty Declaration of the Heads of States of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, Almaty, Kazakhstan (adopted 28 February 1997)

    Google Scholar 

  • Almaty Statement (2009) Almaty Joint Statement of Heads of States – Founders of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, Almaty, Kazakhstan (adopted 28 April 2009)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashgabat Declaration (1999) Ashgabat Declaration of the Heads of States of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan (adopted 9 April 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  • CAwater Info (2013) The Aral Sea Basin In Figures. http://www.cawater-info.net/aral/figures_e.htm. Accessed 13 August 2013

  • Chan S (2010) Pyrrhic victory in the ‘Tournament of Shadows’: Central Asia’s quest for water security (1991–2009). Asian Secur 6(2):121–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dukhovny V, Sorokin A (2008) Transboundary aspects of water management. In: Dukhovny V (ed) Integrated water resources management: from theory to real practice. Central Asian experience. Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination, Tashkent, pp 72–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Dushanbe Declaration (2002) Dushanbe Declaration of the Heads of States of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, Dushanbe, Tajikistan (adopted 6 October 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  • King M, Sturtewag B (2010) Making the most of Afghanistan’s river Basins: opportunities for regional cooperation. EastWest Institute, Brussels. http://www.ewi.info/making-most-afghanistans-river-basins. Accessed 19 July 2012

  • Kyrgyz Interstate Water Law (2001) Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on inter-state use of water bodies, water resources and water management installations of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic (adopted 29 June 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • McCaffrey S (2001) The law of international watercourses: non-navigational uses. Oxford University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Micklin P (2000) Managing water in Central Asia. Royal Institute of International Affairs, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Mukus Declaration (1995) Nukus Declaration of the States of Central Asia and International Organizations on the issues of sustainable development in the Aral Sea Basin, Nukus, Karakalpakstan, Republic of Uzbekistan (adopted 20 September 1995)

    Google Scholar 

  • Protocol (1958) Protocol between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Afghanistan on the joint execution of works for the integrated utilization of the water resources in the frontier section of the Amudarya, Kabul (signed 25 June 1958)

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorokin A, Tuchin A, Nikulin A, Sorokin D (2003) Ecological conditions of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya lowlands and the need for environmental flows. In: Ziganshina D (ed) Environmental flows. ICWC Training Center Publication, Tashkent, pp 50–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone R (2008) A new great lake—or dead sea? Science 320:1002–1005

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tashkent Statement (2001) Tashkent statement by the heads of states of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent (adopted 28 December 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  • UN Watercourses Convention (1997) United Nations Convention on the Law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses, New York (adopted 21 May 1997, not in force yet) 36 ILM 700

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Development Programme (2004) Strategy and project activities to support improved regional water management in Central Asia. http://waterwiki.net/index.php/CA_Water_Strategy_-_McCauley_2004. Accessed 19 July 2012

  • United Nations Development Programme (2005) Central Asia human development report: bringing down barriers: regional cooperation for human development and human security. [pdf] UNDP Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/regionalreports/…/central_asia_2005_en.pdf. Accessed 19 July 2012

  • United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (2011) Second assessment of transboundary rivers, lakes, groundwaters. [pdf] United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes. http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/env/water/publications/assessment/English/ECE_Second_Assessment_En.pdf. Accessed 19 July 2012

  • United States Agency for International Development (2002) Task order 809 phase I stakeholders report: assessment of issues and proposals for phase II. PA Consortium Group and Consulting

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Foreign Agricultural Service (2011) Republic of Uzbekistan cotton and products: cotton harvest update 2011. [pdf] USDA/FAS. http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Cotton%20and%20Products%20Update_Tashkent_Uzbekistan%20-%20Republic%20of_11-4-2011.pdf. Accessed 19 July 2012

  • World Bank (2003) Irrigation in Central Asia: social, economic and environmental considerations. World Bank, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2004) Water and energy Nexus in Central Asia: improving regional cooperation in the Syr Darya Basin. World Bank, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Wouters P (1997) International water law: selected writings of Professor Charles B. Bourne. Kluwer Law International, London

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Embassy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    Bakhtiyor Mukhammadiev

Authors
  1. Bakhtiyor Mukhammadiev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bakhtiyor Mukhammadiev .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Michigan University Dept. Geography, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

    Philip Micklin

  2. Russian Academy of Sciences Inst. Zoology, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N.V. Aladin

  3. Russian Academy of Sciences Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Igor Plotnikov

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mukhammadiev, B. (2014). Challenges of Transboundary Water Resources Management in Central Asia. In: Micklin, P., Aladin, N., Plotnikov, I. (eds) The Aral Sea. Springer Earth System Sciences, vol 10178. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02356-9_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation