1. Academy of Science of the Kyrgyz Republic
Addressing Water Problems in Central Asia &
Research Synergies with the EU
Baktybek Asanov - TSHMRC under the Institute of Water Problems and Energy power,
Academy of Science of the Kyrgyz Republic

2. Freshwater is a vital element for human life and global civilization.

3. Tien-Shan mountain scientific center
There are 3 laboratories:
Laboratory of Glaciology
Laboratory of Biogeography
Laboratory of Coastal Processes

4. Institute of Water Problems and Hydropower
Founded in 1992 as a scientific research institute under the NAS, KR
More than 60 employees (26 of them are research workers)
1 academician
4 doctors of sciences
9 candidates of sciences

5. Our researches
study of regional patterns of surface and groundwater formation, mode, distribution and its relationship;
development of scientific bases of rational use and protection of water resources and hydropower;
development of a methodology for water pricing
development of optimal modes for hydropower facilities;
mathematical and cartographic modeling of natural processes;
glaciology, biogeography, coastal processes and highlands ecology;
monitoring breakthrough risk of alpine lakes.

6. Main aspects of our activity
Solving problems of interstate exploitation of transboundary waters with the purpose to develop criteria and principles on determination of water quota of Central Asian states in basin of Aral sea;
Studying the state of water resources in conditions of global warming, prognosticating the situation’s evolution and developing recommendations on mitigation of negative consequences of water resource decline;
Creating mathematical and cartographic models of natural processes;
Introducing information technologies into transboundary water management;
Studying climatology and mountain ecosystems.

7. Water problems in CA
Lack of cooperation and regional dialogue in Central Asia is a problem for the region. One conflict area deserves special attention: water.
How these water resources are to be used and whether they are seen as a commodity or public good.
Downstream countries, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are dependent on irrigated agriculture, whereas upstream countries, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, are focused on expanding reservoir capacity and hydroelectric power generation.

8. Impact of Soviet Union water management system in CA
Inherited an interconnected and complex hydraulic infrastructure system.
All decisions regarding transboundary water management in the Central Asian countries were made top-down by the Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water Management in Moscow, in coordination with the Ministry of Energy, without regard to the CA states own interests.
Soviet planners deliberately divided resources and unified investment among them so none would be self-sufficient.
Construction of large dams and water reservoirs in the mountainous areas of the upstream countries Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
On the other hand, the lowlands were suitable for practicing irrigated agriculture and for growing water intensive agricultural crops, such as cotton, rice and wheat.
This was because of the area’s attractiveness of natural conditions and higher water accumulations per unit area in comparison to the conditions of the lowland within the downstream countries, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Under the Soviet Union’s Protocol No. 413 of 1984 in a normal year, 75% of the annual discharge from the reservoir was to be made in summer and discharges in winter could not exceed the remaining 25%. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan supplied surplus electricity from their hydropower plants through the Central Asian Power System to the three downstream countries in the summer. In exchange, since the Kyrgyz and Tajik region lacked any significant resources of fossil fuels, electricity was transferred from this power system to enable Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to meet their winter demand for electricity and heat

9. 1992 Almaty Agreement
CA States agreed to continue the Soviet era water sharing agreements, without Soviet era funds and created the Inter-state Coordination of Water Resources Commission which maintained water quotas.
Keeps Soviet allocations unchanged, meaning that the bulk of the region’s water resources is still allocated to the downstream countries, leaving the upstream countries with little access to the water generated on their territory.
There have been a number of discussions on its current status and the need to review, revise, and/or replace it.

10. Water confrontations VS Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkemenistan
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
downstream
upstream
agricultural expansion VS
hydroelectric power generation
public good
a commodity
“haves”
“have nots’”
domestic water law
international water law
1. Downstream countries depend on upstream countries for water for irrigation purposes, but for the upstream countries, lack of cooperation when it comes to water management is an energy concern. As exporters of water to downstream countries for irrigation, who on their side are rich in oil and gas, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on the other hand are struggling to meet their energy needs for electricity, especially in the cold winter months. They have tried to cope by arranging barter deals with their western neighbors, trading summer water releases and hydropower for coal and gas for fall and winter use. However, as downstream nations began to charge for oil and natural gas imports, the two countries began to alter their hydroelectric facilities' water flows, increasingly hoarding it in the growing months for winter release to generate electricity rather than pay ever rising energy import bills, raising political tensions with their downstream neighbors

11. meanwhile…
the region’s main glaciers are shrinking, therefore decreasing the overall water supplies for the region.

12. Climate change
By the laboratory of glaciology was collected extensive glaciological material on the status and modern dynamics of glaciation of Kyrgyz Tien-Shan, which provides the basis for the Catalogue of glaciers of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Due to global warming the glaciers of Kyrgyzstan are heavily reduced in size. This process began in the second half of the nineteenth century (with the end of the Little Ice Age), and intensified after According to the "Catalogue of glaciers of the USSR", composed in s, on the territory of Kyrgyzstan were:
8208 glaciers
Total area 8076,9 km2 and
volume 494,7 km3,
which comprise 4,1% of the Republic’s are.
Currently:
the number of Kyrgyz Republic’s glaciers are 5237
total area 6336 km2.

13. The mass balance of the Tien-Shan glaciers since 1972 is continuously negative that indicate on the ongoing degradation of glaciation (Figure 2); - Many small (less than 0.1 km2) glaciers of the Kyrgyz Republic in the last years have completely disappeared;

14. Forecast and assessment of water and hydropower resources under different scenarios of climate change for 2050
Evaluation of changes in the basic characteristics of glaciers from 2000 to 2100 for the most probable versions of predicted climate change.
Evaluation of the essential characteristics of runoff from 2000 to 2100 for the most probable versions of predicted climate change.

15. International cooperation
Laboratoire d'Etudes en Geophysique et Oceanographie Spatiales of France
University of Giessen, Germany
Institut universitaire Kurt Bosch, Switzerland
USAID
Large Lakes Observatory
Smithsonian Institution
International Scientific and Technical Center (ISTC)
International Association for the Promotion of Co-operation with Scientists from the New Independent States (NIS) of the Former Soviet Union (INTAS)
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
European Commission
International Bureau for Environmental Studies (IBES), Belgium

16. Cooperation between EU and CA
EU adopted the “EU and CA: Strategy for a New Partnership” that marked an upgrade in the relations between the EU and CA in June 2007
As part of its CA Strategy, the EU-CA Environmental Dialogue has been established to foster environmental protection and better manage water resources.
The EU has increasingly focused on working with the five CA countries to improve the management of lands and forestry resources.
To promote and increase capacity building for renewable energy sources and improve energy efficiency, recent activities include trainings and seminars and financing feasibility studies regarding the installation of small sized hydropower stations and the use of renewable energy sources in the region.
The EU is also trying to alleviate the problems arising from the conflicting needs for water access and use between upstream and downstream countries by actively promoting efficient and economic usage of this resource.

17. Against the background of the climate change, active glaciers dynamic,glaciers movement and changes in a liquid water content of the rivers, we have a catastrophic reduction of hydrometeorological observation network in the Kyrgyz Republic.
To keep track of all natural processes and to give them a scientific basis and practical advice it is necessary to carry out large-scale qualitative observations that meet modern requirements and standards.

18. Research Synergies with the EU
There is an insufficiency in research synergies with EU research institutions in the framework of the water problems and the climate change.
We propose to join the relevant research teams of the EU to the researches and observations carried out by us in cooperation with the United States, Russia and China.

19. Thank for your attention!