Integrated Water Resource Management in Syr Darya

As a highly mountainous country, Kyrgyzstan is well endowed with water resources such as glaciers, lakes, rivers, marshes, and reservoirs. Water resources are abundant and provide Kyrgyzstan with a unique comparative feature for development.

The geographic situation of Kyrgyzstan in the center of the Eurasian continent – distance to main water bodies, high altitude of terrain and proximity to continental deserts – make weather patterns extreme and one of the most vulnerable countries in Central Asia to climate change risks. Additionally, poor infrastructure from soviet times and poor management practices have translated into inefficient water use, resources wastefulness affecting crucial economic sectors such as agriculture, hydropower, as well as drinking water supplies.

The risks of climate change exacerbate the country’s vulnerability to food insecurity, health problems and sustainable development. The population of 6 million is predominately rural and highly scattered, highly vulnerable to climate related events, such as drought, desertification, floods and landslides. Climate change will undeniably exacerbate existing water availability problems such as safe and clean drinking water, sanitation and sewage systems, rural irrigation for agriculture, hydropower, water transboundary rules, posing additional risks to the achievement of national sustainable development priorities. Furthermore, decline in water resources have been identified as one of the most severe climate change risks facing the Kyrgyz Republic, with glacial melting projected to significantly reduce available water resources in the longer-term.

From Nov 2018 to June 2019, OIKO conducted several field missions to Kyrgyzstan to support the Agency for Hydrometeorology, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Finance and Dept. of Water in the formulation of the National Integrated Water Resource Management System. The OIKO Team piloted an institutional appraisal of the integrated water resource management sector to identify priorities for the climate resilience actions to be financed under a total amount of 21 million euros EU budget support to the Government for 2020.

COUNTRY

Kyrgyzstan

IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD

2019

DONOR · PARTNER

EU

HydroMet station in Kyrgyzstan

Kurpsai Reservoir in Kyrgyzstan