No. 4 (330) May 2018

REGULAR 73rd MEETING OF THE INTERSTATE COMMISSION FOR WATER COORDINATION IN CENTRAL ASIA

The regular 73rd meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) in Central Asia was held on the 3rd of May 2018.

The member of ICWC from the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Ye.N. Nysanbayev chaired the meeting. The members of ICWC from the Republic of Tajikistan Mr. S.N. Rakhimzoda, from Turkmenistan Mr. M. Bairamdurdiyev, and from the Republic of Uzbekistan Mr. Sh.R. Khamraev took part in the meeting. The heads of executive bodies, such as BWO Amu Darya, BWO Syr Darya, SIC ICWC, and Secretariat, the chairman of the IFAS Executive Committee Mr. G.N. Baidjanov, the representative of Uzbekistan in the IFAS Executive Committee, the head of the Executive Board of the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea in the Republic of Kazakhstan and invited persons also participated in the meeting.

The following items were addressed in the agenda:

1. Results of the use of water withdrawal limits and the operation regimes of reservoir cascade in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya River basins over the non-growing season 2017-2018.
2. Consideration and adoption of water withdrawal limits and operation regimes of reservoir cascade in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya River basins for the growing season 2018.
3. Draft Agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan on the Information and Analytical Support of Water Management, Use, and Protection in the Aral Sea Basin and the Arrangement of Interstate Exchange of Information.
4. Progress on the “Implementation Plan on strengthening ICWC activities in key directions”.
5. Agenda and venue of the next 74th regular ICWC meeting.

Decisions were made on all items of the agenda. Particularly, it was mentioned that, given the predicted low-water level, limits for the growing season should be set at 90% for the period of April-May, with the following adjustment, if necessary.

The ICWC members congratulated the member from Uzbekistan Mr. Sh.R. khamraev on the occasion of his appointment as the Minister of Water Management of the newly formed Ministry of Water Management.

The meeting was organized in the city of Kyzylorda upon invitation and with the support of the akimat (local government) of Kyzylorda province. This is exactly the city, where the Agreement on Joint Actions to address the problem of the Aral Sea and Prearalie that laid the ground for establishment of the Interstate Fund for saving the Aral Sea was signed in 1993.

Being located in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya, the “birthplace of IFAS” as mentioned by the participants had suffered from all water management challenges of the transition period. Today, the city and the province as a whole are reborn. Thanks to intensive reforms for economic diversification and social infrastructure development in the recent years, the province was rated among three fastest growing regions of Kazakhstan. This the Provincial Akim (local governor) K.Kusherbaev told during his meeting with the heads of delegations and directors of ICWC executive bodies in the Kyzylorda province akimat. Akim told that the ICWC members may consider Kyzylorda province “a vehicle and polygon of ICWC” and offered the province space for organization of demonstration and pilot activities.

The participants got informed with the activity of the Situational Center at the akimat. The Center has been functioning since 2014 to improve performance of the akimat through application of modern information and communication technologies. The Center is responsible for forecasting of macroeconomic indicators, monitoring and analysis of socio-economic development and socio-political situation, assessment of security and risk management in economic, financial, demographic, industrial, information and other spheres. At an exhibition in the field of audiovisual innovations in Amsterdam (Netherlands) the project of the Situational center became the owner in the nomination "The Best Control Centre". The project aroused much interest among the audience.

The next meeting of ICWC is to be held in Turkmenistan.