No. 4 (108) February 2005

WORK MEETING FOR DISCUSSING REGIONAL WATER POLICY UNDER THE ADB RETA 6163 PROJECT “IMPROVEMENT OF SHARED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN CENTRAL ASIA”

An ordinary meeting of the working groups for discussing regional water policy took place in Tashkent, 14-15 February 2006, under the Project of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) “Improvement of Shared Water Resources Management in Central Asia”.

The agenda of the meeting included discussing by the national working groups (NWGs) the results of the revision of reports on analysis of the efficiency of the acting agreements and existing remarks on the generalizing regional report; summarizing the inventory of activities carried out by each country in the interests of interstate cooperation; presenting a glossary to draft interstate agreements on the Aral Sea basin; considering a draft Agreement on Formation and Functioning of National, Basin and Regional Databases on Integrated Water Resources Use and Protection in the Aral Sea basin”, and a draft Agreement on Water and Energy Resources Use in the Syrdarya River Basin”.

Revised reports on “Analysis of the Efficiency of the Acting Agreements in terms of national interests” were submitted by the NWGs of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Tajik NWG is to submit revised national report up to 1 March 2006.

During the meeting, the preliminary results of the inventory of activities carried out by each country in the interests of interstate cooperation were presented. With account of the stated remarks, the NWG members agreed to complete inventory activities up to 15 March 2006.

The participants considered the preliminary version of the glossary and received remarks on it from NWGs of Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, BWO “Amudarya” and BWO “Syrdarya”. It was noted that the prepared glossary is useful in water resources use and management in the region. At the same time, further work is needed to revise the brief version of the glossary for including into draft agreements, in particular into a draft Agreement on Water and Energy Resources Use in the Syrdarya River Basin.

A draft Agreement on Formation and Functioning of National, Basin and Regional Databases on Integrated Water Resources Use and Protection in the Aral Sea basin was discussed, and remarks and additions of NWGs of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the participants of the work meeting were inserted.

Relevant additions and amendments were introduced into the draft Agreement on Water and Energy Resources Use in the Syrdarya River Basin based on a consensus between the participants of the work meeting. The NWG of Tajikistan is to submit remarks on the draft Agreement on Syrdarya (version for February 2006) up to 28 February 2006. It is planned to submit a revised text of the draft Agreement for consideration at the ordinary ICWC meeting in Ashkhabad, 30-31 March 2006.

In view of that the next meeting of the working groups is to be dedicated to discussing the Amudarya river basin problems, BWO “Amudarya” prepared “Preliminary Analysis of the Actual Situation with Water Resources Management in the Amudarya River Basin at the Regional Level” and a general structure the agreement on the basin. The members of the NWGs and RWG will submit their suggestions and additions with regard to these documents by 10 March 2006 for discussing this issue at the round table in Ashkhabad.

SEMINAR ON THE “CENTRAL ASIA REGIONAL WATER INFORMATION BASE”

A regional seminar on the “Central Asia Regional Water Information Base” was held on 28 February to 1 March 2006 in the ICWC Training Center, by the order of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia and with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The aim of this seminar was to introduce personnel from the provincial water management organizations with modern information resources in the world, and train them to use the CAWater-Info portal, information system of the CAREWIB Project and set of models ASB-mm.

At the opening ceremony, ICWC TC Director P.D. Umarov spoke. He welcomed the participants of the seminar and introduced the goal of this event.

During the seminar, the participants listened to 17 lectures, were familiarized with international and regional experience, discussed online problems facing provincial water management organizations in the countries of the region. At the seminar, the following lectures were heard:

1. Role of information systems in water resources management along hydrological boundaries - V.I. Sokolov, Deputy Director, SIC ICWC
2. Review of water portals in the world: UNESCO, World Water, UNEP Freshwater, Water eAtlas, Aral Sea Hydrology, etc. – I.F. Begov, SIC ICWC
3. Knowledge bases on irrigation and drainage: FAO Knowledge Forum (referral service and advanced experience sharing); FAO water databases (Aquastat); system for sharing knowledge and information on water use and protection (WCA InfoNET). Review “Knowledge bases on water and land resources use in the Aral Sea basin” – B.K. Turdybayev, SIC ICWC.
4. Introduction to CAWater-Info portal: review of websites and capabilities – I.F. Beglov, SIC ICWC
5. Submission of project proposals to the EC 6th Framework Program Calls - B.K. Turdybayev, SIC ICWC
6. Access to information in international and national laws – D.R. Ziganshina
7. Information systems – A.I. Tuchin, SIC ICWC
8. CAREWIB information system and its functional blocks:
   • DB (Land, Water, Economy, Water-Management Objects blocks),
   • GIS (use principles, capabilities, mapping),
   • interface (review of capabilities and use principles) – D.A. Sorokin, Y.M. Roshchenko, A. Kats, SIC ICWC
9. Information system of BWO “Amudarya” – O.G. Lysenko, BWO “Amudarya”
10. BWO “Amudarya” and main peculiarities of water resources management in the Amudarya river basin at regional level - O.G. Lysenko, BWO “Amudarya”
11. Guidelines for using IS interface - D.A. Sorokin, SIC ICWC
12. GIS: mapping - Y.M. Roshchenko, V.Y. Shakhov, SIC ICWC
13. ASB-mm review: socio-economic model – V.G. Prikhodko, SIC ICWC
14. ASB-mm review: hydrological model – A.G. Sorokin, SIC ICWC
15. ASB-mm review: planning zone model – A.I. Tuchin, SIC ICWC
16. ASB-mm review: Aral Sea basin and Priaralie model - A.I. Tuchin, Y.M. Roshchenko, SIC ICWC
17. Canal control automation (SCADA) – I. Begimov, SPA SANIIRI

All the lectures are based on practical material from both the CAREWIB and other projects being implemented by SIC ICWC in Central Asia. All examples and figures given in lectures and presentations are reliable. Following each lecture, active discussions were conducted between the participants and lecturers, which also considered the details of this or another issue for each country and the region as a whole.

Trainings on navigating over the CAWater-Info websites and developing and using databases based on MS Access were carried out with the participants of the seminar.

Both the printed and electronic versions of lectures and presentations were distributed to all the participants. Furthermore, the distribution material included CAREWIB Project presentation disc.

The participants of the seminar unanimously acknowledged the need for further development of information exchange in the region and introduction of information systems into activities of not only the ministries of water resources and provincial water management organizations, but also at lower level – district water management organizations. For that, continual financial, institutional and political support from governments and donors is initially necessary. In particular, the following suggestions were made:

1. The participants of the seminar expressed interest in organizing a special seminar on GIS. This topic is very urgent in the 21st century, as satellite images with a high resolution make it possible to discern local landscape with a resolution up to 15 m.
2. During the discussions, the following obstacles and barriers on the way to introduction of information systems into the region were emphasized:
   • lack of databases;
   • insufficient funding by government;
   • lack of explanatory and propaganda measures;
   • deficiency of equipment;
   • mercantile interests of leaders of water management organizations;
   • weak legislative framework; and
   • insufficient scientific-methodological support for reforms.
3. Use of information systems will enable to improve water use planning process in quality. In this context, there is a need for creating information systems at national level, and organizing national trainings.
4. A lecture on gender issues was heard with a great interest. The participants stated that in Kazakhstan the issues of women participation in water information technologies and access to information are at more favorable level than in other Central Asian republics that, in turn, makes it possible to freely carry out activities. As noted by the participants, development of women’s access to financial and other resources will help to mitigate the problem of unemployment. Education of women involved in information technology development plays an important role in improving water and land productivity and, finally, in raising life status. The participants were questioned n gender issues, and a questionnaire on gender awareness was distributed.
5. The participants of the seminar expressed their views on creation of conditions for transparency and awareness of activities of national water management authorities and water user associations, in particular, it was noted that a free access to information will enable to maximize the productivity of provincial water management organizations.
6. The participants from Uzbekistan stated that the existing dispatch control service of water management organizations does not meet the current requirements and international standards, though it enables to currently exercise online supervisory control over water resources. All the work is to receive information by telephone (portable radio transmitter) and register it in journals: standard of work setting related to the 1990s. There is an exception that electronic data transmission from BWOs to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan was organized in 2004 with the support of the USAID.

Managers, deputy managers and senior specialists from water use divisions of water management organizations took part in this seminar. They met presentations and lectures with a great interest.

All the participants expressed their gratitude to seminar organizers SIC ICWC and TC ICWC, seminar sponsor SDC, and expressed their wishes for organizing such events, but in each provincial water management organization and at the level of district water management organizations.

At the end of the seminar, certificates were given to the participants of the seminar.