Water Security in the Syr Darya Basin

Abstract

Abstract:The importance of water security has gained prominence on the international water agenda, but the focus seems to be directed towards water demand. An essential element of water security is the functioning of public organizations responsible for water supply through direct and indirect security approaches. Despite this, there has been a tendency to overlook the water security strategies of these organizations as well as constraints on their operation. This paper discusses the critical role of water supply in achieving sustainable water security and presents two case studies from Central Asia on the management of water supply for irrigated agriculture. The analysis concludes that existing water supply bureaucracies need to be revitalized to effectively address key challenges in water security.

Essentials of Endorheic Basins and Lakes: A Review in the Context of Current and Future Water Resource Management and Mitigation Activities in Central Asia

“…In addition, unlike Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan faces no population pressure in the rural regions. Nevertheless, Kazakhstan is creating a water storage system within its territory to reduce its dependency on the reservoir operations located upstream in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan [107,108]. Uzbekistan has followed the same strategy but it is much more vulnerable to potential water shortages than Kazakhstan.…”

The Water-Energy-Food Nexus and the Transboundary Context: Insights from Large Asian Rivers

“…This provides a foundation for an illustrative comparative nexus analysis for three regions centred around selected transboundary Asian river basins. Based on this analysis as well as the relevant findings from the other articles published in this Special Issue [17,21,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33], we then discuss what the nexus means in the specific context of transboundary river basins, noting the implications that transboundary context bring to nexus approaches, and vice versa.…”

“…Unsustainably high water use, particularly for irrigation, has led to high water stress and resulting environmental consequences, most visibly on the Aral Sea [27,[69][70][71][72]. Today, key aspects and challenges of the nexus in Central Asia are linked to the historic infrastructural interdependences via water storages, dams and power grids, and high profile competition over the water resources [26][27][28]67] (Figure 3). After becoming independent, the Central Asian countries were left in a state of high level interdependency with the individual states increasing their focus on national interests [26].…”

“…Going forward, successful management of the nexus in Central Asia and its transboundary rivers depends on fostering trust and cooperation, revitalisation and capacity building within public sector organisations [28,73], shared understanding of limits (e.g., environmental needs and water availability) and norms (e.g., contractual obligations) [27], and agreeing on compromises that maximise total benefits across the water-energy-food nexus rather than national benefits that often focus on one of the nexus sectors alone [29] (Figure 3). …”

Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Large Asian River Basins

“…mdpi.com/journal/water/special_issues/Water-Energy-Food), include 11 articles from altogether 35 different authors. Geographically, a majority of the articles look at Central Asia [21][22][23][24][25] and the Mekong [26][27][28][29], with one of the articles looking at Central Asia, South Asia and the Mekong [9] and two others including case study areas outside these three regions [25,30]. Methodologically, the articles address both theoretical and practical aspects related to the nexus.…”