Kayumov A. - Water Resources Deficit and Dynamics of Interstate Cooperation in Naryn and Syr-Darya River Basins

Written by Erkin Turdibaev

Thursday, 20 April 2017

he length of Syr-Darya River (together with its water inflow by Naryn River) reaches 3 019 km, and its basin makes a part of Aral Sea Basin that it is one of the major transboundary rivers of the Central Asia. The river originates in Kyrgyzstan and proceeds through Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Water discharge of Syr-Darya River and its inflows is regulated by the cascade of the reservoirs constructed during the Soviet and Post-Soviet period. Major of them - the Toktogul reservoir with capacity 19,5 cubic km. The reservoir is located in territory of present Kyrgyzstan, it has been constructed in 1970th years. The water basin area makes 280 sq. km, and it is capable to regulate of water discharge of Syr-Darya River. After disintegration of Soviet Union between the countries laying on a current of Syr-Darya River, there were rigid conflicts because of water allocation. While the countries located in the upstream, constantly face shortage of energy resources during winter time, the countries in the downstream current test summer deficiency of water. The countries in the upstream are intend to use water of the Toktogul reservoir for electric power generation, and the countries of the downstream current wish to use a reservoir for needs irrigation. Till now the states and have not come to the consent about modes of operation of a reservoir. On the contrary, the problem is a constant source of intensity in relations between the countries located in the upstream and in the downstream of the river. And deterioration of a condition of environment, change of a climate and population growth can cause new splashes in intensity round water allocation issues that, in turn, will increase possibility of occurrence of a confrontation in the Central Asia 1. Attempts to settle water division by means of regional agreements and regional institutes of management were some times undertaken by a water management. But, though about these agreements and institutes also it has been told a lot of good, their real effect left much to be desired 2. Why so occurred also what factors led to similar result? Why successful negotiations came to an end with default of agreements? In present article I will try to show, that during the periods when the volume of a water storage in the Toktogul reservoir is reduced, Naryn/ Syr-Darya Rivers Basin countries show defined, let and limited, in issues of water allocation and water resources sharing whereas during the periods of high volume of water in a reservoir propensity to cooperation, on the contrary, falls also the coastal states entered into earlier multilateral agreements cease to observe readiness for cooperation. During such periods they prefer not cooperation, and the unilateral actions directed exclusively on the decision of own water problems. To illustrate this tendency, I will analyze three periods of low volume of water storage in the Toktogul reservoir: 1984-1988, 1997-1998 and 2007-2008 (fig. 2 see). Article is constructed as follows. In the first section theoretical and methodological explanations will be presented. In the subsequent sections the situation during the periods of low volume of water storage and specific tendencies peculiar to these periods to cooperation and to conflicts concerning water allocation will be described. In the conclusion results and their analysis will be is short stated. Download (in Russian) (pdf, 230 kB)  Source: http://cyberleninka.ru/

 

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