Amudarya River Basin
Action areas and project suggestions
Background
The Amu Darya is one of the largest rivers in Central Asia. The drainage basin includes
territories of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The river rises in
Northern Afghanistan and Southern Tajikistan, it demarks the border between
Afghanistan and Tajikistan, then flows through Turkmenistan, into Uzbekistan, and
finally into the Aral Sea. There are two primary sources of the river in the Pamir
Mountains (the Zor Kor lake between Tajikistan and Afghanistan), and the Wakhan
corridor (Afghanistan). Since the 1980’s, the Amu Darya has failed to reach the Aral Sea
(ESIG Alert. 2002). The basin of the Amu Darya is used intensely for agriculture,
particularly irrigated agriculture. There are also a number of large urban centres, with
nine cities in the basin, and a number of industrial areas.
There are concerns that the already critical water shortages in the lower section of the
Amu Darya River will be extenuated by developments further up stream, and that already
serious problems involving various sources of water pollution will increase if action isn’t
taken that involves the whole river basin. There are problems concerning a lack of
efficient water use in all sectors; demographic scenarios suggest that both demand for
water and possible tensions in the region will increase.
The main areas of concern in the Amu Darya river basin, as reflected in the section
Regional cooperation on water, energy and the environment in the Central Asian Human
Development Report, are:
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Lack of water management capacity in all countries,
Increased pressure post- conflict development of Afghanistan will place on the
river resources,
Pollution from industry and urban areas due to lack of waste treatment facilities,
Lack of information about extraction of water,
State of the irrigation systems in the basin which have not been repaired or
maintained for many years,
Lack of cooperation at all levels between states in the river basin.
Other issues include the uncontrolled or monitored deforestation of the basin,
development of dams and hydroelectric power stations, and the use of agricultural
chemicals especially in the cotton production areas. The region of Karakalpakstan should
be considered a priority area and the remediation of both the failure of the Amu Darya to
reach the Aral sea, and the high level of pollution of the water that does reach
Karakalpakstan should be objectives of all projects in the region, as the desiccation of
this part of Uzbekistan may have destabilizing effects on the region as a whole. The
support of the development of post-conflict Tajikistan and Afghanistan should similarly
be project priorities.
The Environment and Security (EnvSec) Initaitive is a partnership of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and in
association with the Public Diplomacy Division of the North-Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO). The Initiative is aimed to provide a framework for co-operation
on environmental issues across borders, preventing conflict and promoting peace and
stability through environmental co-operation for sustainable development.
In Central Asia, the Ferghana Valley shared by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
has been identified as a priority area for a more detailed assessment that leads to setting a
regional agenda for concrete action for 2005-2007. For the valley, a preliminary work
programme has been developed with a set of projects clustered around the identified
environment and security priorities:
1) Industrial hot-spots and radioactive waste sites -existing industrial
infrastructure and hazardous waste sites, with high risks of accidents and spills
and negative impact on human security and stability;
2) negative pressure on quality and access to water and land resources in areas
with high potential for conflict generation;
3) the impact of climate change and natural disasters hazards, primarily flooding
and land-slides in areas of high population density and agricultural lands, were
identified as priority cross-cutting concerns. Furthermore, access to information
and public participation in environmental decision-making are instrumental to the
promotion of dialogue and understanding, ultimately reducing risks for stability
linked to misinformation and/or misunderstanding.
The current concept falls well into the second cluster of activities, as is described in the
following section.
Action Areas
Integrated river basin management system
Integrated river basin management takes the river basin as the unit of administration,
rather than the different state boundaries and interstate administrative borders. It is based
on the understanding that a river basin is a discrete unit and any problems either social or
environmental can only be dealt with at the river basin level.
The river basin is modelled and monitored as a whole by a body including representatives
and stakeholders from the whole basin. Environmental, development and economic
sectors of the river basin are also considered so that the river basin can be managed in a
sustainable way. The Amu Darya basin is an example of a basin that could benefit from
such an approach. To begin managing the river basin as a whole, monitoring and research
projects need to be set up. By using a river basin management approach the project would
also provide a platform for increasing trans-boundary exchange of information, and build
regional cooperation.
Possible partners:
Afghanistan
UNESCO Afghanistan. Capacity Building for Cooperation in Water Resources
Management in Afghanistan
The Ministry of Water and Power;
Ministry of Irrigation, Water and the Environment;
Ministry of Reconstruction
Tajikistan
Ministry of Water Management and Irrigation.
Ministry of Public Health,
Ministry of Agriculture,
State Committee on Land Recourses, State Forestry Authority
Turkmenistan
Ministry of Nature Protection
Uzbekistan
Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan
International
UNEP, UNICEF, Water research network (http://water.nml.uib.no/about/),
This regional river basin project could provide information and a framework for a large
number of other projects that would benefit from regional information and networks.
Agricultural extensions and training
The Amu Darya River is used intensively for agriculture. Creating trans-boundary
agricultural extensions and exchange programmes will be useful for training about
chemical use, irrigation practices. It would also serve as a useful forum for conducting
local needs assessments in remote regions.
Mountain area programmes
The sources of the Amu Darya River are some of the remotest places on earth. The
Wakhan corridor is a region of immense ecological value, untouched by development.
The Pamir Mountains are equally unique. Mountain areas have specific developmental
and environmental requirements, and so treating them as a special area within the river
basin has advantages. Climate change is threatening the glaciers in these regions, and the
remoteness of communities increases their vulnerability to these changes. These may be
priority areas. Nature protection also offers opportunities for trans-boundary cooperation
in these mountain areas.
Forestry
The deforestation of the river basin will impact on the vulnerability of the region to
flooding and soil erosion. However, the use of forest products for fuel, and the access of
local people to forests for non-timber forest products must be balanced with the need to
protect the environment and restore forests.
Multifunctional forestry – this management approach recognises that forests serve a
variety of functions from cultural to economic. When developing programmes for the
region, because of the importance of forests and the wide range of uses, this is perhaps
the best approach to use.
Forest landscape restoration – this approach to forest restoration focuses on the
restoration of goods and services provided by the forests while working with local land
users and governments. Restoration plans are made with on a landscape level so they tend
to be more effective and relevant to the needs f communities. Tools for forest landscape
restoration are the promotion and development of agriforestry techniques (including tree
planting and care in agricultural extensions), promoting the reintroduction of native
species, altering national and local forestry laws to support restoration. International
organisations with experience of this sort of programme include WWF, IUCN and
UNEP.
Irrigation
A number of projects funded by ADB, WB and others, have begun the task of repairing
and improving irrigation systems in parts of the Amu Darya basin. Integrating and
targeting these repairs may help to speed up the process by targeting the most vulnerable
areas and serious problems first and making sure that projects in different sections of the
basin consider the implications for the whole.
Waste water treatment
Domestic and industrial wastewater treatment is significantly lacking in the basin,
especially in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. In Tajikistan, industries are of particular
concern in terms of pollution, especially in the Kurgan-Tube valley. Domestic pollution
is the major concern in Afghanistan. Community water treatment facilities and public
health extension programmes are important in this region. The provision of basic and
simple water purification systems coupled with public health education has been used in
many regions of the world with good effect as a mechanism of improving water quality
and health where a centralised infrastructure is lacking. Many regions of the Amu Darya
basin could benefit from this.