Water Energy Nexus in Central Asia

Title :

Water Energy Nexus in Central Asia: Improving regional cooperation in the Syr Darya Basin

Authors :

Raghuveer Sharma, Anil Markandya, Masood Ahmad, Marat Iskakov and Venkataraman Krishnaswamy

Type :

World Bank report

Date :

January 2004

URL :

http://go.worldbank.org/O7MK6N6380

Description :

Upon the dissolution of the Former Soviet Union (FSU), many regional issues in FSU became international issues among the newly independent states. The foremost among them is the need for resolution of the water-energy related issues in river basins, which cut across the boundaries of the new states. The issue is complicated by the energy and water self sufficiency approach, which many of the new states tend to pursue. To resolve these we need analyses, which demonstrate the superiority of the regional cooperation approach to the national self-sufficiency approach.

In this respect, the present report is a notable contribution towards possible solutions for sustainable regional cooperation in the Syr Darya river basin in the water and energy sectors. We believe it proposes a practical and transparent approach involving an equitable distribution of costs and benefits among the cooperating participants and represents a positive sum approach.

The proposals in this Report deal with only one step—although a very important one—among the many that need to be dealt with to improve the performance of these two sectors. These include: in the water/irrigation sector, improved river regulation, reservoir management, irrigation and drainage management, groundwater management; and in the energy sector, demand management, efficiency of use, pricing policies, and promotion of regional markets. The proposals in this report are not intended to preclude any of such steps.