THE SECOND WATER DONOR MEETING
The second water donor meeting was held on February 6, 2004 in ADB Uzbekistan Resident Mission in Tashkent. The meeting was held to implement a better donor information exchange mechanism on the water-related projects and programs and begin coordination processes.
Opening speech of Mr. S. O’Sullivan, Director of ADB Uzbekistan Resident Mission, was devoted to the presentation of the ADB projects and programs for water resources of the region.
The representatives of bilateral and multilateral donor organizations and the implementation organizations took part in the meeting.
The participants recognized the importance of the water donor meeting and again approved its format (rotation of the venues, participation of the representatives from donor organizations and implementation organizations) and frequency (quarterly). The task of the meeting is to support an appropriate mechanism for interaction in the sector and propose ways to achieve coordination among the donor community in water management at all levels.
It was decided that it was necessary to improve mechanism for providing possible better information exchange on the implementation progress and plans of the water-related projects/programs between donors and implementation organizations according to the requirements defined at the discussion at the level of strategies in these directions, e.g. the future role of regional institutions, related to water management, future status of water-energy nexus and other issues.
The mandate of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to organize the next meetings was confirmed.
Project discussions
The ADB representative described in detail the implementation of the program for water resources and agriculture, where water sector is priority. The tasks, solved by the ADB, are related to the improvement of water management at the farms level and improvement of water policies from the basin level to the farms level that will enable to provide sustainable water use and equitable participation of beneficiaries. The tasks at the local level are to increase freedom of choices for the farmers and their incomes.
Two loans have been recently provided to Uzbekistan. The first one is given under the project for improving grain production ($26 million) having a component, which promotes effective irrigated lands use. The second one is the Amu Zang water resources management project ($73 million), which aims at increasing reliability, effectiveness and sustainability of water supply to Amu Zang irrigation system (100,000 ha) and assisting with the current agricultural reforms in project area and accelerating them.
At regional level, the ADB allocated means ($0.8 million) to develop its strategy of helping the region to improve institutional development and political reforms in the field of water resources within the framework of technical assistance to improve shared water resources management in Central Asia.
The representative of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) presented the results of the research on “Improvement of the management and tariff policy in the sector of water supply services”, conducted in 1999-2000 by order of the Uzbek Government. The structure of tariff rates and collections system were studied, and a plan for improving the management of public water supply services was proposed. As a result, general plan for improving Tashkent water supply for the period by 2015 was presented in 2003.
To develop these research, JICA considers the possibility of extending the scales in drinking water supply in other part of Uzbekistan and plans to review the measures in irrigation management.
The representative of SIC ICWC presented detailed report on the projects being implemented. The Central Asia Regional Water Information Base Project (CAREWIB) aims at creating a regional water and ecological web portal, providing a user-friendly on-line access to information on water management, water resources and related problems.
The report on the implementation of the “Integrated Water Resources Management in Ferghana Valley” Project, funded by the SDC as well, was presented. It was discovered that agricultural lands in the upper reaches in Central Asia (especially those in Ferghana Valley) suffer from excess water, and that is why simple initiatives on water productivity can be easily introduced in the region.
In conclusion, the representative of SIC ICWC told in detail about the activities of the ICWC Training Center, especially regarding the training of chiefs and employees of water organizations, water users, and noted the importance of including the aspects of regional cooperation in future trainings.
The representative of the Natural Resources Management Project (NRMP) presented multi-purpose program, funded by the USAID. The program was launched in September 2000 and will last until August 2005. It was pointed to the strategic approach of the program, which was to implement purposeful measures in short and medium terms (1-3 years), influence strategic legal, regulatory and institutional reforms through demonstration models, focus on bilateral strategies before the transition to multilateral ones and establish strategic partnerships with donors and counterparts. The program functions owing to the combination of loans and grants.
The representative insisted on the significance of taking measures and minimizing costs and time, required for analyses, researches and field visits. Some of the issues being solved by the program concern the need for financial means to rehabilitate the infrastructure, interaction between water use management and energy trade, conflicts over reservoir operation, energy supply and demand, inadequacy of regional institutional base in water and energy sectors, integration of water and energy infrastructures, professional training and public propagation. The program solves a wide range of tasks, beginning from sharing and management of hydrological data, prediction of river flow in the region, to on-farm water management through improvement of irrigation system management using demonstration models.
After the presentation the participants discussed the question on extending the framework agreement on the Syrdarya river of 1998, at that there can be some difference in approaches of the USAID and World Bank. The NRMP plans to assist with technical modernization (concept of water infrastructure pricing, bilateral subcontract, creation of the decision-making support system, regulatory system, etc.) and extension of the agreement (other five years).
The representative of the US State Department (USSD), as well as the USAID office in Tashkent and Almaty, informed about the USAID/CAR Water Users Associations Support Program (WUASP). The project budget of $25 million will be allocated to five years among three states in Fergana Valley. It includes training, technical assistance and grants. The project team should begin to work from June 1, 2004.
He also presented new initiative of the USSD Economic Support Funds – project for integrated water resources management in lowlands and deltas in the Aral Sea basin, which would be launched in forthcoming months. The project will be aimed at the development of transboundary cooperation in IWRM between three countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and, possibly, Turkmenistan).
The representative of the World Bank (WB) reported on the implementation of the current projects, funded by the bank. For the Syrdarya basin, the WB has recently developed a new approach to sustainable regional cooperation in water and energy sectors. Short-term measures include reforms in the sectors and a set of technical and economic measures. Medium-term strategy will be directed to the develop a new method of management, followed by the reconstruction of irrigation and power systems for reducing losses, develop a new method of management for arranging winter flow, and increase the capacity of downstream countries for flow storage/regulation to meet the agricultural needs in spring-summer period. This will allow to manage winter flow regime of Naryn cascade. For this purpose, the component Ń of the WEMP (reservoirs management and dams security) was converted into two projects – construction of the Arnasay dam this year and restoration of Chardarya barrage to the amount of $40-50 million. Such strategy also applies to the Kayrakum reservoir in Tajikistan.
The expected results are (i) increased flexibility of system management in the Syrdarya basin, (ii) winter flow storage and regulation for sanitary and environmental flows to the Syrdarya delta, (iii) possibility of doubling the yields in lowland areas of the basin.
The alternatives of long-term strategies will include the costs of new storage hydropower projects (Kambarata I and II) that will help to grow electric energy generation in winter without increasing winter releases.
On February 5, 2004 the Uzbekistan Drainage, Irrigation and Wetlands Improvement Project (DIWIP) in Karakalpakstan ($75 million) was signed, which should settle the problems of drainage, water productivity and water management development in the command area of 100,000 ha. The project will be completed in 2005. The WB representative expressed the interest of the World Bank in cooperation with IWMI and ICARDA regarding such specific matters as land leveling, creating water users associations, doubling yields and combating salinity.
A brief presentation of Farmer Ownership Model (FOM) project in Khodjend, Tajikistan, funded by the Seco and IFC, was made by the project team leader. The objective of the project is to provide farmers with a competition-based access to resource materials, marketing services and technical support at the local level through private company SugdAgroServ (SAS), and also provide education and professional training services.
The representative of the International Center for Agricultural Researches in Dry Areas (ICARDA) informed that the ADB had recently approved the second phase of the ‘Rural Livelihoods Improvement through Efficient On-farm Water Management and Soil Fertility in Central Asia” Project. The main objective is to organize large-scale demonstrations of new technologies in farmer fields through interrelation with other development projects being implemented by the governmental and non-governmental organizations. One of the key on-farm measures is to contribute to improve water use effectiveness.
During the meeting the opinion exchanges on the programs and strategies were carried out. The discussion on creating effective and sustainable WUAs and improving water use effectiveness was the continuation of the discussion, organized at the first water donor meeting. The participants also discussed regional problems of water and energy resources management in the Syrdarya river basin (in connection with the NRMP and World Bank approach to water-energy nexus).
The third meeting will be held by the USAID in Tashkent in early May 2004.
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