|
May
Project kick-off meetings held in
Osh, Kyrgyzstan
The Phase IV of
Integrated Water Recourses Management in Ferghana Valley Project (IWRM
Fergana) and Inception Phase of Water Productivity Improvement
Project (WPIP) kick-off meetings were held in Osh City on 20th
May, 2008.
Mr. B. Kashmatov – Deputy Minister
and Director General of Water Resources Management, Kyrgyzstan, Mr.
Hanspeter Maag - Country Director of the Swiss Development Cooperation
Office in Kyrgyzstan, Dr. Chris Morger - consultant of SDC, Prof. Viktor
Dukhovny - Head of Scientific Information Centre (SIC) of the Interstate
Commission Water Coordination (ICWC) of the Central Asia, Dr. A. Noble –
Director, South East and Central Asia Operations (IWMI) and Dr. Herath
Manthrithilake - Head of IWMI-Tashkent office, representatives of Government
Water management organizations and IWRM institutions from Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan were participated in the meeting.
The meeting reviewed Plan of
Operations for the year 2008 and discussed the key focus areas and
strategies to be adopted.
Between the kick-off meetings,
participants took part in Official opening ceremony of SCADA System
installed in Aravan Akbura Canal, where Governor and Deputy Governor of the
Province too, participated.
Welcome, Dr. ANDREW NOBLE!
Dr.
Andrew Noble, the new Head of South East and Central Asia of IWMI visited
our region from 13th to 26th May.
“The
Central Asia is a very interesting region; however, it has many problems in
water management and agriculture. I am pleased that the IWMI researchers are
able to contribute for the development of this region through water sector”
he said, addressing the staff in Tashkent IWMI office.
During this visit, he has attended the kick-off meetings of two SDC funded
projects- Phase IV of IWRM Fergana and the Inception phase of Water
Productivity Improvement project, held on 20th May, in Osh at the
office of the Sub-Basin Water Management Organization of Kyrgyz Republic,
where he met with a donor organization representatives, regional water
sector leaders and stakeholders.
He
also witnessed the handing over of SCADA System installed in Aravan Akbura
Canal to operators. During this visit, he met the Rector and the Vice-
Rector of the Osh Agricultural University, who are long standing partners of
IWMI and thank the Rector, staff and students for their support in IWMI work
in the region.
Following is a short brief on Dr. Noble:
Experience
Soil
Science: Soil chemistry
with particular reference to acid soil infertility and its remediation; Soil
chemical analysis techniques with particular reference to aluminum
chemistry; Extensive knowledge in surface charge fingerprinting and the
development of chemical degradation indices. Experience in the running of
chemical speciation models i.e. GEOCHEM; Interpretation of soil and plant
analysis; Investigated hyper-accumulation of Ni and Cr in selected plant
species from mine tailings; Strong focus and interest in the remediation of
degraded soils and farming systems.
Agronomy: Undertaken evaluation of various crop species for tolerance
to acid soil infertility. Developed the concept of using beneficiated
bentonites for the remediation of degraded soils with the intention of
increasing crop productivity; Lectured in the area of crop water
requirements under irrigated production systems, irrigation efficiency, crop
morphology and farming systems. Extensive knowledge on legume based pasture
production systems in temperate and semi-arid environments of Australia.
Worked in sugarcane production systems in both Australia and South Africa.
Forestry: Experience in the area of silviculture in Eucalyptus and
pine plantation systems. Developed site indices for the establishment of
fast growing hardwoods on degraded light textured sands. Mid-rotation
fertilization of Eucalyptus and pine species. Evaluated problems associated
with the establishment of plantations on agricultural lands.
April
Certifications award
Certifications Award for
International Water Resources Management Institute staff was held on April
25 2008. The researchers who worked with the IWMI for 5 or 10 years were
awarded with Commemorative Certificates and valuable presents. Certificates
were awarded to: Dr. Manthrithilake Herath, Head, IWMI Central Asia; Dr.
Asad Sarwar Qureshi, International Researcher; Mr. Murat Yakubov, Research
Officer; Mr. Ilhom Babaev, Finance and Administrative Officer; Mr. Ilya Pak
Driver/Office Assistant; Mr. Ilshat Tukhvatullin Driver/Office Assistant.
February
Workshop to discuss IV phase of
IWRM Project
Stakeholders workshop to plan the new phase of the Integrated Water Resource
Management (IWRM) project was held in Tashkent on 4-5 February.
Representatives of stakeholders from the concerned Ministries, water users
from the three Central Asian countries - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan, implementing agencies and SDC representatives from Bern, Bishkek
and Dushanbe participated.
The participants discussed the design, expected results and organizational
aspects of the next Phase, which is scheduled from 1 May 2008 to 31 December
2010.
The overall goal of the
project is contribution to more secure livelihoods, increased environmental
sustainability, and greater social harmony, through improved effectiveness
of water resources management in the Ferghana Valley. This overall goal of
the project remained unchanged for all previous phases of the project and
remains valid for this phase, too.
The emphasis here is i) to complete the IWRM water governance
and management principles introduction and consolidate experiences and
systems practiced in pilot areas, including TSRs; ii) that project outreach
WUAs are fully hydrographical, allocating and delivering water in an
equitable and reliable manner based on IWRM guidelines up to the plot level;
iii) that institutional and organizational arrangements and technologies
developed and tested are consolidated into ‘ready to go’ packages for wide
range dissemination; and iv) to develop an enabling environment for IWRM
dissemination in adjoining areas and eventually in the whole country.
The sustainability of project achievements depends on the
continuous progress on the same direction. This cannot happen, unless
governments and the supporting donors share the same vision on WUAs and WUG.
The national policies and legislations should be helpful or at least not
stop or in any way hinder such a progress. Volume/ crop based tariff systems
are in place as well as the necessary measures and instruments to encourage/
strengthen/ facilitate their implementation. In other words, it is expected
to create an enabling environment, influencing higher-level key players and
policies for consolidation and dissemination of IWRM principles and
mechanisms.
So far, no economic analysis as such was done in order to
determine financial and economic sustainability of IWRM institutions. It is
very important that these new IWRM institutions are financially and
economically viable and become self-sustaining. Moreover, the worsening
conditions of the inherited infrastructure has not been taken care of or
only insufficiently during the last 15 -20 years. This requires huge
investments now and in the future. Whether the users can take the burden of
rehabilitation or not, and if not, who should pay how much, and the users
ability to pay under current situation has to be assessed and appropriate
recommendations with emphasis on low cost but still adequate solutions need
to be given to the governments and donors.
Furthermore, it is necessary to formulate
quantitative and qualitative indicators to assess social, economic and
technical feasibility concerning the deliverables and outcomes and social
acceptability of these institutional changes. The impact of changed water
policies on environment too, shall be assessed.
| 
