Your search found 16 records
1 Abdullaev, Iskandar; Molden, David. 2004. Spatial and temporal variability of water productivity in the Syr Darya Basin, Central Asia. Water Resources Research, 40. 6p.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: IWMI 333.91 G570 ABD Record No: H035089)
Application of water productivity analysis can provide clues in the search for solutions to solve water management problems of central Asia. It is in this context that this paper provides an analysis of water productivity both spatially and temporally in the cotton and rice production areas of Syr Darya Basin of central Asia. The spatial analysis includes different farm types and basin segments, and the temporal analysis includes 3 hydrological years during 1999–2001. The analysis of temporal data showed that in water-deficient years, water productivity, both in terms of supply and evapotranspiration, is higher than the same in water-abundant years. The data also show that type and size of farms have an impact on water productivity in the case of both cotton and rice. This study concludes by suggesting strategies and options for enhancing the average water productivity both in the cotton- and rice-growing areas of the Syr Darya Basin.
2 Wegerich, K. 2004. Coping with disintegration of a river-basin management system: multi-dimensional issues in Central Asia. Water Policy, 6(4):335-344.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: PER Record No: H035980)
(0.07 MB)
3 Aerts, J. C. J. H.; Droogers, Peter. (Eds.) 2004. Climate change in contrasting river basins: adaptation strategies for water, food and environment. Wallingford, UK: CABI. ix, 264p.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 630.2515 G000 AER Record No: H036667)
4 Savoskul, O. S.; Shevnina, E. V.; Perziger, F.; Barburin, V.; Danshin, A. 2004. How much water will be available for irrigation in the future?: The Syr Darya Basin (Central Asia) In Aerts, J. C. J. H.; Droogers, Peter (Eds.), Climate change in contrasting river basins: Adaptation strategies for water, food and environment. Cambridge, MA, USA: CABI. pp.93-113.
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: 630.2515 G000 AER Record No: H036672)
(Location: IWMI-HQ Call no: PER Record No: H037429)
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI 631.7.2 G770 ABD Record No: H040736)
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H042212)
(0.49 MB)
Expansion of irrigated agriculture in the Aral Sea Basin in the second half of the twentieth century led to the conversion of vast tracks of virgin land into productive agricultural systems resulting in significant increases in employment opportunities and income generation. The positive effects of the development of irrigated agriculture were replete with serious environmental implications. Excessive use of irrigation water coupled with inadequate drainage systems has caused largescale land degradation and water quality deterioration in downstream parts of the basin, which is fed by two main rivers, the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya. Recent estimates suggest that more than 50% of irrigated soils are salt-affected and/or waterlogged in Central Asia. Considering the availability of natural and human resources in the Aral Sea Basin as well as the recent research addressing soil and water management, there is cause for cautious optimism. Research-based interventions that have shown significant promise in addressing this impasse include: (1) rehabilitation of abandoned salt-affected lands through halophytic plant species; (2) introduction of 35-day-old early maturing rice varieties to withstand ambient soil and irrigation water salinity; (3) productivity enhancement of high-magnesium soils and water resources through calcium-based soil amendments; (4) use of certain tree species as biological pumps to lower elevated groundwater levels in waterlogged areas; (5) optimal use of fertilizers, particularly those supplying nitrogen, to mitigate the adverse effects of soil and irrigation water salinity; (6) mulching of furrows under saline conditions to reduce evaporation and salinity buildup in the root zone; and (7) establishment of multipurpose tree and shrub species for biomass and renewable energy production. Because of water withdrawals for agriculture from two main transboundary rivers in the Aral Sea Basin, there would be a need for policy level interventions conducive for enhancing interstate cooperation to transform salt-affected soil and saline water resources from an environmental and productivity constraint into an economic asset.
8 Arsel, M.; Spoor, M. (Eds.) 2010. Water, environmental security and sustainable rural development: conflict and cooperation in Central Eurasia. London, UK: Routledge. 284p. (Routledge ISS Studies in Rural Livelihoods)
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 333.91 G805 ARS Record No: H042593)
(0.27 MB)
9 Bernauer, T.; Siegfried, T. 2008. Compliance and performance in international water agreements: the case of the Naryn/Syr Darya Basin. Global Governance, 14(4):479-501.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: P 8137 Record No: H045802)
(2.22 MB)
Many case studies and some large-N research have shown that upstreamdownstream cooperation in international river basins occurs quite frequently. The same holds for global water governance efforts more generally. Yet such findings are blind in one eye because they focus primarily on political commitments or compliance with international agreements. A policy performance metric (PER) allows for a more substantive assessment of success or failure in international water governance. To test its usefulness, this article applies this metric to the Naryn/Syr Darya basin, a major international river system in Central Asia. Management of the Toktogul reservoir, the main reservoir in the Naryn/Syr Darya basin, was internationalized in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. Compliance with an international agreement, concluded in 1998, has been quite high. This agreement establishes an international trade-off between water releases for upstream hydropower production in winter and water releases for downstream irrigation in summer. However, performance of this agreement over time has been very low and highly variable. The management system in place is therefore in urgent need of reform. Studies of international and global water governance should pay more attention to the degree to which political commitments actually further de facto problem solving.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047080)
(1.59 MB)
Ongoing discussions on water-energy-food nexus generally lack a historical perspective and more rigorous institutional analysis. Scrutinizing a relatively mature benefit sharing approach in the context of transboundary water management, the study shows how such analysis can be implemented to facilitate understanding in an environment of high institutional and resource complexity. Similar to system perspective within nexus, benefit sharing is viewed as a positive sum approach capable of facilitating cooperation among riparian parties by shifting the focus from the quantities of water to benefits derivable from its use and allocation. While shared benefits from use and allocation are logical corollary of the most fundamental principles of international water law, there are still many controversies as to the conditions under which benefit sharing could serve best as an approach. Recently, the approach has been receiving wider attention in the literature and is increasingly applied in various basins to enhance negotiations. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the costs associated with benefit sharing, particularly in the long run. The study provides a number of concerns that have been likely overlooked in the literature and examines the approach in the case of the Ferghana Valley shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan utilizing data for the period from 1917 to 2013. Institutional analysis traces back the origins of property rights of the transboundary infrastructure, shows cooperative activities and fierce negotiations on various governance levels. The research discusses implications of the findings for the nexus debate and unveils at least four types of costs associated with benefit sharing: (1) Costs related to equity of sharing (horizontal and vertical); (2) Costs to the environment; (3) Transaction costs and risks of losing water control; and (4) Costs as a result of likely misuse of issue linkages.
(Location: IWMI HQ Record No: H047105)
(224 KB)
Logframes are fundamental to contemporary development. However, there are ongoing debates about their efficacy. This paper pinpoints the limitations of the logframe approach in a water project in Central Asia. Issues surrounding logframes are identified. These include addressing internal risks; the use of baseline studies for the accuracy of assumptions; the ability to adapt under an inflexible budget; and linking the logframe and contract. Findings show that rigid planning may constrain effective project implementation. Greater flexibility through embedded learning and adaptation, adjustable budgets and meaningful mainstreaming of risks may equip projects to cope with uncertainties to achieve sustainability.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H047242)
(1.12 MB)
Conventional emphasis on basin-wide water management has often resulted in the formation of transboundary water law on the basin or near basin scale. In Central Asia, however, the Syr Darya Basin possesses an abundance of tributary-level cooperative agreements that guide and codify water sharing and management on the sub-basin scale. To understand the volume and nature of this cooperation, this paper compiled and analyzed a set of agreements that apply to small transboundary tributaries (STTs) in the Syr Darya Basin. The paper assembled the largest collection of STT water agreements—123 in total—and classified such documents according to a range of criteria including: purpose and objectives, water management issues, and operational mechanisms. Results of this work highlight a rise in sub-basin-scale cooperation in the first decade of the twenty-first century, a time when large-scale cooperation appeared tenuous; a practical orientation to transboundary water management at a small scale; and an abundance of treaties of short time duration. These findings present options related to scale, time duration and focus of transboundary water law that can help inform future treaty development.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H047367)
(0.35 MB)
14 Savoskul, Oxana; Shevnina, E. 2015. Irrigated crop production in the Syr Darya Basin: climate change rehearsal in the 1990s. In Hoanh, Chu Thai; Johnston, Robyn; Smakhtin, Vladimir. Climate change and agricultural water management in developing countries. Wallingford, UK: CABI. pp.176-192. (CABI Climate Change Series 8)
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H047378)
(756 KB)
15 Didovets, I.; Lobanova, A.; Krysanova, V.; Menz, C.; Babagalieva, Z.; Nurbatsina, A.; Gavrilenko, N.; Khamidov, V.; Umirbekov, A.; Qodirov, S.; Muhyyew, D.; Hattermann, F. F. 2021. Central Asian rivers under climate change: impacts assessment in eight representative catchments. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 34:100779. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrh.2021.100779]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050338)
(9.84 MB) (9.84 MB)
Study region: Eight river catchments within Central Asia.
Study focus: The limited amount of water resources is already an issue in the Central Asian region, and climate change may be crucial for water availability and development of countries in the region. This study investigates potential climate change impacts on water resources in Central Asia to the end of the century by focusing on eight river catchments with diverse natural conditions located in different countries. The eco-hydrological model SWIM was setup, calibrated and validated for all selected catchments under study. Scenarios from five bias-corrected GCMs under Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5 were used to drive the hydrological model.
New hydrological insights for the region: The results show an increase of mean annual temperature in all catchments for both RCPs to the end of the century. The projected changes in annual precipitation indicate a clear trend to increase in the Zhabay and to decrease in the Murghab catchments, and for other catchments, they were smaller.
The projected trends for river discharge are similar to those of precipitation, with an increase in the north and decrease in the south of the study region. Seasonal changes are characterized by a shift in the peak of river discharge up to one month, shortage of snow accumulation period, and reduction of discharge in summer months.
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050398)
(4.00 MB) (4.00 MB)
The hydrological response to climate change in mountainous basins manifests itself at varying spatial and temporal scales, ranging from catchment to large river basin scale and from sub-daily to decade and century scale. To robustly assess the 21st century climate change impact for hydrology in entire High Mountain Asia (HMA) at a wide range of scales, we use a high resolution cryospheric-hydrological model covering 15 upstream HMA basins to quantify the compound effects of future changes in precipitation and temperature based on the range of climate change projections in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 climate model ensemble. Our analysis reveals contrasting responses for HMA's rivers, dictated by their hydrological regimes. At the seasonal scale, the earlier onset of melting causes a shift in the magnitude and peak of water availability, to earlier in the year. At the decade to century scale, after an initial increase, the glacier melt declines by the mid or end of the century except for the Tarim river basin, where it continues to increase. Despite a large variability in hydrological regimes across HMA's rivers, our results indicate relatively consistent climate change responses across HMA in terms of total water availability at decadal time scales. Although total water availability increases for the headwaters, changes in seasonality and magnitude may diverge widely between basins and need to be addressed while adapting to future changes in a region where food security, energy security as well as biodiversity, and the livelihoods of many depend on water from HMA.
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