WATER DISPUTE IN CENTRAL ASIA: CONFLICT POTENTIAL
Abstract
The Central Asian republics (CARs), which emerged as independent states in the post-Soviet phase, faced several challenges. During the Soviet era, the CARs were agriculturally oriented towards the Soviet economy, and river water management was also centralized under the command economic model. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the CARs had to review the existing water management arrangements. This is where the absence of a Moscow-centric central authority has proven detrimental to the region endowed with two major rivers and their several subsidiaries. In this context, the paper suggests an emphasis on multilateralism, rather than bilateralism, as a more feasible approach to river water management. Clearly, multilateralism would promote a more equitable solution compared to bilateralism, which does not adopt a holistic approach to the region. Considering the fact that the region is characterized by a water crisis in addition to the fragility of the environment makes a multilateral arrangement significantly more appropriate for the region in the long term.
Downloads
References
See: A. Swain, “Water Scarcity as a Source of Crises,” in: War, Hunger, and Displacement, ed. by W. Nafziger, F. Stewart, R. Väyrynen, Oxford University Press, New York, 2000, p. 179.
See: World Resources Institute in collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Program, “The United Nations Development Program and the World Bank,” World Resources 2000-2001, Oxford University Press, New York, 2000, p. 104.
Quoted from: F. Menga, “Domestic and International Dimensions of Transboundary Water Politics,” Water Alternatives, Vol. 9, Issue 3, 2016, p. 704.
See: J. Allan, N. Mirumachi, “Why Negotiate? Asymmetric Endowments, Asymmetric Power and the Invisible Nexus of Water, Trade and Power that Brings Apparent Water Security,” in: Transboundary Water Management Principles and Practice, ed. by A. Earle, A. Jägerskog, J. Öjendal, Earthscan, London, Washington DC, USA, 2010, pp. 13-26.
See: D. Trilling, “Water Wars in Central Asia,” Foreign Affairs, available at [https://www.foreignaffairs.com/gal-lerys/2016-08-24/water-wars-central-asia], 24 August 2016.
See: K. Wegerich, “The New Great Game: Water Allocation in Post-Soviet Central Asia,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 10, No. 2, Summer/Fall 2009.
See: P. Micklin, “Managing Water in Central Asia,” Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 2000, p. 7.
See: Th. Bernauer, T. Siegfried, “Climate Change and International Water Conflict in Central Asia,” Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 49, No. 1, January 2012, pp. 227-239.
See: S. Peyrouse, “Flowing Downstream: The Sino-Kazakh Water Dispute,” China Brief, Vol. 7, Issue 10, 2007.
See: J. Allouche, “The Governance of Central Asian Waters: National Interests Versus Regional Cooperation,” Disarmament Forum, available at [https://www.peacepalacelibrary.nl/ebooks/files/UNIDIR_pdf-art2687.pdf], 2007.
“Art 5 of the U.N. Watercourses Convention seeks to achieve ‘optimal and sustainable utilization’ across the broad range of factors under Art 6; these include population dependency, social and economic needs of the state and the availability and cost of alternative sources,” see: [https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/un_watercourses_convention_-_users_guide.pdf], 2012.
Complex Interdependence is a theory which stresses the complex ways in which as a result of growing ties, the transnational actors become mutually dependent, vulnerable to each other’s actions and sensitive to each other’s needs. Complex Interdependence is defined as: “An economic transnational concept that assumes that states are not the only important actors, social welfare issues share center stage with security issues on the global agenda, and cooperation is as dominant a characteristic of international politics as conflict,” available at [https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6149/df52c27a3fd2e175e8e8556e-0bea89405aaa.pdf], 2 February 2015.
See: Wing Commander David I. Stewart RAF, “Water Conflict in Central Asia—Is There Potential for the Desiccation of the Aral Sea or Competition for the Waters of Kazakhstan’s Cross-Border Ili and Irtysh Rivers to Bring about Conflict; and Should the UK be Concerned?” Defence Studies, Vol. 14, Issue 1, 2014.
See: J. Allouche, “Géopolitique de l’eau en Asie centrale : de la colonisation russe à la conférence internationale d’aide à l’Afghanistan (1865-2002),” CEMOTI, La question de l’enclavement en Asie centrale, Vol. 35, 2003, pp. 123-154.
See: “Central Asia: Border Disputes and Conflict,” International Crisis Group, 2002, p. 8.
Agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan on Cooperation in the Field of Joint Management on Utilization and Protection of Water Resources from Interstate Sources, available at [http://www.icwc-aral.uz/statute1.htm], 18 February 1992.
See: B. Janusz-Pawletta, M. Gubaidullina, “Transboundary Water Management in Central Asia,” Cahiers d’Asie centrale, Vol. 25, 2015, available at [http://journals.openedition.org/asiecentrale/3180], 2015.
See: “Central Asia: Border Disputes and Conflict,” p. 8.
“The Toktogul Dam in Kyrgyzstan was built on the Naryn River (tributary of the Syr Darya) during the 1970s as a central piece of the Soviet Union’s efforts to conquer nature in its drive to modernize Central Asia; and served to control the inter-annual variability of water resources and to ensure that there would always be sufficient water for irrigation. The Toktogul dam became fully operational in the late 1980s. It is one component of a cascade of five hydroelectric stations downstream, which all together produce 90% of Kyrgyzstan’s power. As the dam regulates transboundary water flows, it has caused several frictions among Central Asian countries,” see: [https://ejatlas.org/conflict/toktogul-dam-kyrgyzstan].
See: Water Energy Nexus in Central Asia—Improving Regional Cooperation in the Syr Darya Basin, Europe and Central Asia Region, The World Bank, Washington D.C., available at [http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTUZBEKISTAN/resources/Water_Energy_Nexus_final.pdf], January 2014.
On 17 March 1998, the governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan adopted an interstate agreement on use of water and energy resources of the Syr Darya river basin.
See: K. Abbink, L.Ch. Moller, S. O’Hara, “The Syr Darya River Conflict: An Experimental Case Study,” University of Nottingham, available at [https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/67965/1/49675923X.pdf], 2005.
See: Personal communication with Leonid Dmitriev, Kazgiprovodhoz, Almaty, 15 December 2004.
See: K. Abbink, L.Ch. Moller, S. O’hara, op. cit.
See: “Central Asian Summit to Focus on Water Resources,” RIA Novosti, 28 August 2006; “Reviving CIS,” Times of Central Asia, 24 August 2006.
See: P. Goble, “Water Conflicts Now More Explosive Than Ethnic or Territorial Ones in Central Asia—OpEd,” Eurasia Review, available at [https://www.eurasiareview.com/29092018-water-conflicts-now-more-explosive-than-ethnic-or-territorial-ones-in-central-asia-oped/], 29 September 2018.
See: Z. Baizakova, “Turkmenistan’s ‘Golden Age’ Lake: A Potential Environmental Disaster,” The Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO), available at [https://aquadoc.typepad.com/files/report_golden_age_lake.pdf].
See: “The Curse of Cotton: Central Asia’s Destructive Monoculture,” ICG Asia Report, No. 93, 2005.
“Central Asia: Border Disputes and Conflict,” p. 8.
See: D. Castillo, L.M. Izquierdo, G. Jimenez, M. Stangerhaugen, R. Nixon, “Water Crisis in Central Asia: Key Challenges and Opportunities,” Graduate Program in International Affairs / New School University, December 2010.
The basic institutional structure of the water management system in the Aral Sea Basin would appear to be organized around two principal agencies. The ICWC is the technical authority, regulating and supervising the allocation of water resources and related infrastructure. The IFAS is the political authority that guides and sanctions the work of the ICWC via principles and policies agreed upon by the member states,” see: [https://www.waterunites-ca.org/themes/17-ifas-organization-al-structure.html].
See: D. Castillo, L.M. Izquierdo, G. Jimenez, M. Stangerhaugen, R. Nixon, op. cit.
See: “Central Asia Energy—Water Development Program,” available at [http://web.worldbank.org/archive/website01419/WEB/0__CO-12.HTM], 14 October 2019.
Ibidem.
See: “Uzbek Interest Announced in Kambarata1 Project,” The Economist, available at [http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=756165059&Country=Kyrgyz
%20Republic&topic=Economy&subtopic=Forecast&subsubtopic=Policy+trends&u=1&pid=1146175298&oid=1146175298&uid=1], 27 November 2017.
See: P. Goble, op. cit.
See: P. Goble, op. cit.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
