Kyrgyzstan   Tajikistan   Kazakhstan  

PROJECT  PREPARATION  PHASE  INCEPTION  MEETING  

Paris  –  February  3-­‐4,  2014  

GROUNDWATER  MANAGEMENT  IN  THE  SYR  DARYA  TRANSBOUNDARY  BASIN  

THE  PROJECT  BACKGROUND,  JUSTIFICATION  AND  RATIONALE  

By  ANDREA  MERLA  

HOW  THE  PROJECT  IDENTIFICATION  PROCESS  STARTED  

2  workshops:  •  UNESCO  –  OSCE  “An  integrated  approach  for  mulWdisciplinary  study  and  

governance  of  the  transboundary  aquifers  of  Central  Asia”  September  2011,  Almaty  

•  UNDP  –  UNECE    “IWRM  implementaWon  in  Central  Asia:  current  pracWces  and  the  way  forward”  December  2011  Almaty  

Government  nominated  experts  of  the  four  Central  Asian  countries  ,  noWng  the  limited  naWonal  capacity  and  lack  of  internaWonal  support  in  groundwater  development  and  protecWon,  expressed  their  strong  desire  and  interest  in  having  a  mulWdisciplinary  groundwater  project  which  will  help  countries  in  these  challenging  and  difficult  issues  

Popula'on  density  

THE  PROJECT  ENVISIONED  BY  THE  CENTRAL  ASIAN  EXPERTS  INCLUDED:  

(I)  BUILDING   CAPACITY   ON   GROUNDWATER   POLICY,   TECHNICAL  ASPECTS   AND   INFORMATION   MONITORING   AND   EXCHANGE  ACROSS  BORDERS;    

(II)    UTILIZATION  OF  SUBSURFACE  SPACE   IN  ORDER  TO  ADDRESS  CC,    SURFACE  WATER  FLOWS  AND  ENVIRONMENTAL  HAZARDS;    

 (III)     DIALOGUE   AMONG   STAKEHOLDERS   AND   RAISING   AWARENESS  

 OF  DECISION  MAKERS  ON    GROUNDWATER  GOVERNANCE  AND    POLICY;    

 (IV)  ELEMENTS  ON  CONFLICT  PREVENTION  

THE  GLOBAL  EMNVIRONMENTAL  BENEFITS  –  KEY  TO  GEF  ELIGIBILITY  -­‐  THAT  THE  PROJECT  WOULD  PRODUCE  FALL  INTO  TWO  CATEGORIES:    1)    ENHANCING  COOPERATION  AMONG  COUNTRIES    2)    DEMONSTRATING  THE  IMPORTANT  ROLE  OF      

 GROUNDWATER  IN  COPING  WITH  INCREASED  CLIMATE  

 VARIABILITY  AND  CHANGE,  BALANCING  WATER  USES,  

 AND  IMPROVING  OVERALL  SUSTAINABILITY  IN  COMPLEX  

 TRANSBOUNDARY  CONTEXTS.  

 IN  RESPONSE  TO  THE  COUNTRIES  REQUESTS  AND  MANIFESTED  NEEDS,  UNESCO  IHP  AND  UNDP  

HAVE  PREPARED  TOGETHER  WITH  THE  COUNTRIES  A  PROJECT  PROPOSAL,  FOR  SUBMISSION  TO  THE  GEF  FOR  FUNDING.    

THE  PROJECT  CONCEPT  (PIF),  TITLED  “ENABLING  COUNTRIES  OF  THE  TRANSBOUNDARY  SYR  DARYA  BASIN  TO  MAKE  SUSTAINABLE  USE  OF  THEIR  GROUNDWTER  POTENTIAL  AND  SUBSURFACE  SPACE  WITH  CONSIDERATION  TO  CLIMATE  VARIABILITY  AND  CHANGE”  WAS  ENDORSED  BY  KZAKHSTAN,  KYRGYZSTAN  AND  TAJIKISTAN  AND  SUBMITTED  TO  THE  GEF  COUNCIL  AND  APPROVED  IN  JUNE  2013.  LIMITED  FUNDS  FOR  PROJECT  PREPARATION  WERE  ALSO  GRANTED.    

THE  SYR  DARYA  BASIN  SHARED  BY  UZBEKISTAN,  KAZAKHSTAN,  TAJIKISTAN  AND  KYRGYZSTAN    INCLUDES  THE  MOST  POPULATED  AREAS  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA    LARGE  HYDROPOWER  RESERVOIRS  WITH  A  TOTAL  VOLUME  OF  40KM3    SHRINKING  GLACIERS  AND  INCREASED  FREQUENCY  OF  EXTREME  EVENTS  

With  the  collapse  of  the  Soviet  Union  and  creaWon  of  independent  states,  the  operaWon  regime  of  the  upstream  reservoirs  has  become  an  issue,  since  the  prioriWes  and  naWonal  interests  of  the  new  states  are  not  always  congruent,  determining  winter  downstream  floods  and  water  logging,  and  constraints  to  irrigaWon  in  summer  

 land  and  water  degradaWon,    loss  of  the  key  environmental  services  provided  by  the  freshwater  ecosystems  of  the  basin.  

ISSUES  OF  

CONCERN  

SoluWons  that  focused  almost  exclusively  on  the  equitable  allocaWon  of  surface  water  flows  have  failed  

It  has  been  argued  that  any  strategy  for  the  management  of  water  resources  in  the  basin  must  consider  its  huge  and  so  far  largely  disregarded  groundwater  resources.    

Data  show  that  important  aquifers  occur  in  the  region,  but  their  role  and  regional  strategic  

significance  are  not  being  recognized  

These  shared  resources    must  be  managed  in  close  cooperaWon  with  neighboring  countries,  and  conjuncWvely  with  surface  water  as  part  of  a  fully  integrated  strategy.  

Against  this  background,  the  project  will  aiempt    •  to  strengthen  the  countries  ability  to  evaluate  the  quality  and  quanWty  of  their  groundwater  resources  (deep  and  shallow)  present  in  the  basin,    •  to  assess  the  opportuniWes  for  improved  sustainability  that  groundwater  use  will  present  •  to  manage  surface  and  groundwater  in  a  conjuncWve  manner  and  within  a  framework  of  transboudary  cooperaWon  

PROJECT  PREPARATION  PHASE  INCEPTION  MEETING  

Paris  –  February  3-­‐4,  2014  

Groundwater  resources  are  not  fully  integrated  into  energy  –  water  –  food  –  environment  strategies  in  the  region.  This  is  the  assumpWon  at  the  basis  of  the  project.  Is  it  correct?    Could  increased  consideraWon  of  groundwater  resources  enhance  sustainability  and  ease  water  use  conflicts?    In  which  ways  and  fields  the  capacity  of  countries  in  groundwater  assessments  and  management  could  be  improved?  

GROUNDWATER  MANAGEMENT  IN  THE  SYR  DARYA  TRANSBOUNDARY  BASIN  

For  discussion: