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2020 | Book

Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

Water Resources Management in Central Asia

Editors: Igor S. Zonn, Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Prof. Dr. Andrey G. Kostianoy, Aleksandr V. Semenov

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Book Series : The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik"

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About this book

This book reviews the current status of water resources management in Central Asian countries, and outlines the history, policies and cross-border cooperation regarding water resources management in the region. Particular attention is paid to the evolution of water resources management in Central Asia, past and future water transfer projects, specific problems concerning water use and pollution, and national approaches to water management in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as well as to related conflicts between the Central Asian countries.

Together with the companion volumes on Water Resources in Central Asia: International Context and Water Bodies and Climate Change in Central Asia, it offers a valuable source of information for a broad readership, from students and scientists interested in the environmental sciences, to policymakers and practitioners working in the fields of water resources policy and management, international relations, and environmental issues.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Introduction
Abstract
The present book on water resources management in Central Asia is a follow-on issue of the book Water Resources in Central Asia: International Context edited by Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Igor S. Zonn, Andrey G. Kostianoy, and Aleksandr V. Semenov and published by Springer in 2018. The problem of water resources management in Central Asia has a long history. For many millennia in the conditions of the arid climate, the water had been used here only for irrigation of agricultural lands and for satisfying the needs of the people. In view of the low development of industry, it did not claim much water. From the mid-twentieth century, the problem of the use, distribution, and reproduction of water resources had become most crucial for Central Asia. In the times of the Soviet Union, among the negative factors, there were the high rate of the population growth in this region, intensive development of industry, and expansion of agricultural lands. This had led to exhaustion of water resources and, accordingly, to their deficit which had been growing with every year. This led to complete intake of water resources which deficit in the 1970s brought about the aggravation of the situation in the region. After the Soviet Union disintegration in 1991, the issues of water resources use and management acquired the interstate dimensions and moved to the political sphere giving rise to conflicts between Central Asia countries. The relationships in the water area of the Central Asian countries have changed basically. The territorial unevenness of water resources, their limitation, and permanently growing use influence greatly the water resources management. This leads to the boosting of the water demand in individual countries and in the region in general. The situation is aggravated by the regional climate change, water deficit, and the water quality deterioration. As a result, all Central Asian countries have to adapt to such changes correcting their relationships with each other and changing the benchmarks of national development.
Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Igor S. Zonn, Andrey G. Kostianoy, Aleksandr V. Semenov
Role of Water Resources in the Modern World
Abstract
The problems of water use and water availability have a long history. For thousands of years, the people had used water in agriculture and for satisfying their own needs, while in the recent centuries the water supply of industry has been added here. However, beginning from the mid-twentieth century, the use, distribution, and reproduction of water resources have acquired special relevance. The quickly growing world population, industry development, and expanding agricultural lands have led to the water deficit which is increasing with every passing year. The water demand runs ahead of the population growth rate.
Many international organizations and individual states exerted enormous efforts to find the way to cope with this issue but so far without success. In the recent decades this has led to the growth of interstate contradictions of interests which gave rise to international instability and even to conflicts. This issue is so acute that the conflicting parties fail to find compromise. It means that in the nearest decades, we may witness the revival of “water wars” which will affect enormously the political map of the world.
Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Igor S. Zonn, Aleksandr V. Semenov, Oleg E. Grishin, Elena A. Markova
Evolution of Water Resources Management in Central Asia
Abstract
Since time immemorial, the water and all water-related components of life had been one of the key factors determining the development of civilizations. Water basins have no political boundaries. Water is the vital common wealth of all people on the Earth. Any attempts to divide it by force had led the society to wars and disasters. In Central Asia, water is the main uniting and dissociating factor. The causes of conflicts and rivalry for water among water users were water deficit, deterioration of water quality, and unbalanced system of water management for power generation.
In five Central Asian states located in the basins of the major rivers – Syr Darya and Amu Darya, the water dependence among them is so strong that it simply dooms these countries to joint management of all waters formed here and used by all peoples inhabiting this area to ensure regional security. Apart from difficulties faced with water distribution regulation across the territory, there are also complexities with regulation of water supply in time as various water users have their own specific time-related demand for water. This also requires the well-balanced actions. For the last five decades, the countries have been looking for the best form of water resource management.
Igor S. Zonn, Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Aleksandr V. Semenov
Water Resource Transfer in Central Asia: Projects, Results, and Perspectives
Abstract
Nowadays water availability has become the crucial issue in many countries of Central Asia. The uneven territorial spreading of water resources and their insufficiency and permanently growing water consumption create rivalry in water demand at the national and regional levels. Water deficit and deteriorating water quality are the serious challenges that have been faced by many countries of this region. The key issue for stabilizing the situation inside Central Asia is to find ways to increase available resources.
In some countries the possibilities for inter-basin transfers of river flow and rational water management within a territory have been nearly exhausted which forces to initiate studies and to launch projects on joint use of water resources based on inter-zonal (interstate) river flow transfers.
Analysis of the dynamics and forecasts of water consumption proves that in the coming millennium, mankind will be preoccupied with finding solutions to water resource problems. For the world community, this will be a period of mutually beneficial joint use of water resources by states on the basis of large-scale inter-zonal conveyance of water from water surplus rivers to water-deficit regions.
Igor S. Zonn, Andrey G. Kostianoy, Aleksandr V. Semenov
Legal Aspects of the Water Resources Management in Central Asian Countries
Abstract
The Central Asian countries keep in focus the issues of the legal regulation of water resources use. Such great attention stems from the role of water resources in development of the Central Asian states. The ineffective management of water resources results in depletion of the flow of rivers in Central Asia which affects the socioeconomic development of all countries in this region and aggravates the environmental issues. Moreover, the deficit of water resources in Central Asia escalates the interstate contradictions among the regional countries, thus holding up their economic development. The Central Asian endeavors on the national and interstate levels to develop the mechanism of the legal regulation of water resources management, thus attaining their rational use. But the solution of this problem is impeded by diverging interests of the regional countries that are guided solely by their national interests neglecting the requirements of their neighbors in the region.
Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Igor S. Zonn, Elena A. Markova, Oleg E. Grishin, Irina F. Kolontaevskaya
Main Problems of Water Resources Use in Central Asia
Abstract
The problems with water resources use appeared in Central Asia after 1991 when the USSR had broken up. Before this all problems concerning water use in the Central Asian republics were resolved from the center with regard to the interests of all parties and taking into account the goals and long-term plans of economic development of the Soviet Union. The Soviet system of water relations among republics was based on water sharing limits allotted to each of them and the balance of contractual obligations between the republics and the union center. The USSR disintegration entailed the breakup of the “common pot” principle, and the most sensitive issue here was water sharing.
The system that had been operating for many decades collapsed leaving a wealth of unsettled claims which were primarily connected with determination of water intake volumes in conditions of the market economy, reduction of investments into the water use sector, changed operating regimes of large reservoirs (changeover from irrigation to power generation regimes), and others.
Disintegration of the Soviet Union put forward the issue of water ownership. Likewise other resources, water happened to be divided by state borders of the new Central Asian states. The time when water was supplied free-of-charge in the USSR had come to an end. This forced the Central Asian countries to start negotiations and to become engaged in water diplomacy. However, the countries failed to reach agreement on direct pay for water, and the barter solutions were adopted: gas for water (Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan), water for electricity (Tajikistan to Kazakhstan), etc. It is quite obvious that the actions to ensure water supply should outpace the formation of water needs or, at least, go abreast. Taking into account the time required for designing and construction the planning of such actions will take many decades.
The climate changes produce great effect on water resources and their use. It is expected that the consequences of climate changes will be witnessed in all regions of the planet, and Central Asia is no exception to this end. Central Asia covers the territory of five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It is situated in the center of the Eurasian continent extending over an area of 3,882,000 km2 and supporting the population of around 72 million. It borders on Afghanistan and Iran in the south, on China in the east, and on Russia in the west and north. Further climate changes will aggravate the complicated situations that has already established here which is distinguished by low precipitations, aridity, sharp weather fluctuations, and uneven distribution of resources.
Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Igor S. Zonn, Nikolay S. Orlovsky, Aleksandr V. Semenov
Water Bodies and Water Resources of the Kyrgyz Republic and Challenges in Their Transboundary Use
Abstract
The article studies the geography of water bodies and water resources of Kyrgyzstan and examines the dynamics of water management related to the restructuring of the water sector under the new conditions of economic development in different countries. The article analyzes expert opinions to the Kyrgyz Republic standpoints on using transboundary water resources in Central Asia. The article presents expert recommendations for solving the problems of cross-border water sharing and offers a number of measures and activities to address them, among which international legal initiatives should play a decisive role.
Salamat K. Alamanov, Elena A. Markova
Tajikistan Water Resources and Water Management Issues
Abstract
The chapter addresses water resources, formation, use, and management in Tajikistan. The natural and geographical conditions and distribution of water resources by economic regions are analyzed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the problems of water use and water management in Central Asia moved to the interstate level and were accompanied by an aggravation of political relations. Such factors as demographic growth in the countries of the region, desertification processes, and climate warming had a negative impact. This has given particular relevance to the problem of water resources management in Tajikistan.
Holnazar М. Mukhabbatov, Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Elena A. Markova
Current Hydropower Potential of Kazakhstan
Abstract
The article considers the strategy of Kazakhstan toward hydropower facilities development, as well as defines the current achievements of the country in the water management. The author pays special attention to the national strategy of the Kazakhstani government in the sphere of the renewable energy sources development giving detailed information about the role of the hydropower plants in the further increase of the total energy generation in the country. The article also highlights specific features of the hydropower sector development in Kazakhstan focusing on evaluation of exciting and projected facilities in the three hydropower resource-rich regions of the country.
Lidiya A. Parkhomchik
The Level of Anthropogenic Pollution of the Kapshagay Water Reservoir, Republic of Kazakhstan
Abstract
The paper presents the results of our own research at the Kapshagay Reservoir in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Heavy metal contamination of water and bottom sediments, their spatial distribution, and interannual variability are discussed. The influence of flow of the Ili River, and the southern tributaries, is regarded. The sources of anthropogenic pollution of the reservoir are considered.
Nariman A. Amirgaliyev, Laura T. Ismukhanova
Current State of Water Resources and Problems of Their Use in Border Regions of Russia (The Ob-Irtysh Basin as a Case Study)
Abstract
The water resources of Ob and Irtysh and water availability in the context of natural areas, landscape provinces, and river basins are considered. The information on extreme hydrological phenomena on water bodies of the Ob-Irtysh Basin has been analyzed and structured. Using the results of statistical analysis of data series of average annual discharges for major rivers in the south of West Siberia, the linear trends were calculated. The change in annual discharges for the last decades was estimated. The discharge forecast for the following 10–20 years was given, and the zones of its increase/decrease in the area under study were identified. The volume of abstraction and use of water intake and use and the share of withdrawal in landscape provinces and river basins of the region are estimated.
Alexander T. Zinoviev, Evgenya D. Kosheleva, Vladimir P. Galakhov, Anastasia B. Golubeva, Irina D. Rybkina, Natalia V. Stoyashcheva, Nadezhda Yu Kurepina
Conclusions
Abstract
Water management remains one of key issues in Central Asia. The second volume on Water Resources in Central Asia addresses this issue and studies in-depth the legal regulations in water management that have been the basis for the regional countries after breakup of the single system of management that existed in the Soviet Union. The current approaches of the Central Asian countries to potential mechanisms of water management in the future are investigated. Regardless of introduction of the new paradigm of integrated water management, it is impossible so far to speak about its efficiency, and this is due to tough positions of the regional countries in the water-energy sphere and non-readiness to take into account the interests of their neighbors.
Sergey S. Zhiltsov, Igor S. Zonn, Andrey G. Kostianoy, Aleksandr V. Semenov
Metadata
Title
Water Resources Management in Central Asia
Editors
Igor S. Zonn
Sergey S. Zhiltsov
Prof. Dr. Andrey G. Kostianoy
Aleksandr V. Semenov
Copyright Year
2020
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-57986-9
Print ISBN
978-3-030-57985-2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57986-9