Linking IWRM & WSS
UNDP’s Kazakhstan Experience
Andrew Hudson
Principal Technical Advisor, International Waters and
Officer-in-Charge, Water Governance Programme
16 No 2006
United Nations Development Programme
Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava / Slovak Republic
UNDP’s Water-related Work
 IWRM & WSS:
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Focusing on water governance;
Human Development (and Human Rights) approach;
Poverty-reduction / MDGs
 Projects in Europe & CIS:
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Transboundary (regional) level: IWRM in Danube & Black Sea,
Caspian Sea, Dnipro, Kura-Aras (S. Caucasus), Lake Peipsi &
Prespa, Upper Syr Darya (Ferghana Valley), …
 UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, mainly GEF (approx. US$
75 Mio. last decade) & EU/bilateral co-funded
National level: IWRM & WSS interventions  implemented
through UNDP Country Offices …
… for example:
Kazakhstan – IWRM & Water Efficiency Plan
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 2
The Project:
“National IWRM & WUE Plan for Kazakhstan”
 Time Frame: 2004-2007
 Partners:
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Kazakh Committee for Water Resources (CWR)
Government of Norway
Global Water Partnership (GWP)
Department for Int’l Development (DFID)
 Co-funding:
• Norway
• GWP
• UNDP
• DFID
Total
USD 1.62 mil.
(cash)
(in-kind)
(cash)
(cash)
USD 1.085 mil.
USD
320,000
USD
100,000
pounds 50,000
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 3
Kazakhstan Context
 Water Use by sector:
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71% Agriculture (85% of which irrigation)
24.4 % Industry / 0.6 % Fisheries
4%
Domestic Use
 44% of water comes from neighboring
countries (6 out of 8 river basins in KAZ are
transboundary)
 WB Study in 66 local communities reported
hard ship & conflicts over water, land & energy
use in 50%
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 4
Why IWRM ?
(Kazakhstan Context II)
 Water Resources Management in K. is:
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… Fragmented (Committee for Water Resources (CWR) in
MoA, yet: monitoring  management; separate
quality/quantity monitoring; surface  groundwater
management; water services  sanitation providers)
… Under-funded
 MAIN REASON: WRM not seen as revenue earning area.
… Poorly governed (new Water Code (2003): good
potential for IWRM, but currently not used / enforced)
At present, no organization has the responsibility to
manage Kazakhstan’s water resources
 Apparent “Water scarcity” as a result of ineffective
management
 Johannesburg directive – IWRM plans by 2005
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 5
Kazakhstan context III:
Main Barriers towards IWRM
 Poor public understanding & involvement,
 Poor governance, capacity (govt. investment; RBOs),
transparency, …
 Water Info: Lacking, poorly accessible and/or managed
 Education Gap (water-related expertise / national
capacity)
 Soviet Legacy:
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‘Overnight’ loss of central resource allocation & management
New borders = new compartmentalization of watersheds
“Low sympathy” for water pricing
 Water-Energy Nexus dominates dialogue
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 6
The Guiding Principles
 IWRM is about Governance!
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Integrating government policies across water-related sectors
through governmental, institutional & legislative reforms
(e.g. agricultural with environment & water policies; Environment
with municipal WSS policies; poverty reduction with water policies,
etc.)
 IWRM is a Process of Adaptive Management!
 IWRM speaks to Efficiency – 2 Types:
• Technical E.: efficient use, minimizing waste ( demand
•
management) example: decrease irrigation losses
Allocative E.: economic efficiency, water to highest value user
( supply management), requires social responsibility;
example: “release” water from agriculture for higher valued
Drinking Water use ( lowering social/health costs, etc.)
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 7
UNDP’s Strategic Approach
to IWRM in Kazakhstan
 Basis:
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Johannesburg Directive 2005 IWRM plans;
Build on Kazakhstan Water Code (2003);
Assist Committee for Water Resources (CWR).
 Water Quality Management  Responsibility
of River Basin Organisations (RBO)
= Subsidiary Principle
 Adopt EU Water Framework Directive (WFD)
approach
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 8
Main objectives & Milestones
1. National IWRM and W.U.E. Plan [End 2005], and
IWRM Plans for all River basins [2007]
2. Establish 8 River Basin Councils [2006]
3. Preparation of a Strategy for Achievement of
MDGs for WSS [End 2006]
4. Improving cooperation and development of
partnerships at regional and country levels
Outlook:
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2007-2010: Schemes for comprehensive use & protection of
Water Resources
2010-2015: Fully adapting to EU WFD
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 9
1. National IWRM & WUE Plan:
4 Initial Focus Areas
1.
Instituting Management of Water Quality & Ecology
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2.
Achieving the MDGs for WSS (2015)
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3.
Safe DW through better/cheaper raw water quality;
Capacity development, etc.
Addressing Water Use Efficiency
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4.
Mind shift: Water pricing and institutional cooperation
Preparing for Transboundary IWRM
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Responsibility, information gaps, cooperation
Start small (simpler bi-lateral agreements, bring RBOs up to
speed, address “in-house” issues first)
IWRM & WUE Plan: primarily institutional (organizational,
financial) in scope, not infrastructural or operational
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 10
2. How to set up
River Basin Councils
 What is it?
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Advisory body for River Basin Organizations (RBO), NOT a water
resources manager
Expanded stakeholder participation
Instituted in 2003 Water Code (Art. 43)
 Key issues requiring serious consideration:
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Funding
Information (basis for functioning & effective counseling for RBO)
Reliability & Trust: for stakeholders to participate as RBC members,
they have to be sure this is a tool to truly influence RBO & RB
decisions
 Since there’s no model: “Learning by Doing”
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Set-up step by step to truly include/represent all water users, and
cautiously empower to provide effective RBO advice
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 11
3. Strategy for Achieving
Water MDGs
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Achieving MDG target (10) = can be achieved on
time in KZ given appropriate effort & support!)
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 Complete working plan with concrete projects &
full financial streaming 2007-15 – Main steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Define “Sustainable Access to Safe DW & Sanitation”
Quantifying Current Level of Access
Determining priorities, specific works, financial
requirements
Determining strategy to meet financial costs
Outlining strategy
Strongly linked to Objective 1 (IWRM & WUE Plan):
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Basis for Plan development
Involvement of all stakeholders required (CWR, RBO, etc.)
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 12
(Preliminary) Conclusions &
Lessons Learned
 Before actually starting to draft the IWRM Plan, much
more efforts than expected were required to actually
prepare (all) partners/stakeholders for IWRM
 Promising approaches:
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Bottom-up: build RBO & RBCs
“Inside-out” (build local/national capacity before attempting
(transboundary) IWRM)
 Decentralization: The right way to go
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Some risk that it leads towards ambiguity about
responsibilities & ownership of rural WSS systems, hence to
low willingness to invest.
 Kazakhstan Case: many country specific factors (e.g.
2003 Water Code)
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careful when replicating!
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 13
Why Linking WSS & IWRM
in Kazakhstan ?
 Fulfillment of WSS MDGs will require more Water for People (as
will economic growth) BUT: Kazakhstan’s available Water
Resources unlikely to increase in future, therefore:
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Increased demands can only be met by improving efficiency:
DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT
 Best done through IWRM
 Safe Drinking Water requires effective treatment
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This requires “reasonable” raw water (surface & ground) quality,
..is linked to (industrial & municipal) discharge policies
..requires also capacity (CWR, RBOs, Vodokanals, Health Ministry,
etc.) for coordination

Again, IWRM is best vehicle
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
7/23/2016/JS page 14
Thank You!
For more Information:
www.voda.kz
www.undp.kz
www.undp.sk
www.undp.org/water
United Nations Development Programme
Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava / Slovak Republic