1. Linking IWRM & WSS UNDP’s Kazakhstan Experience
Juerg Staudenmann
Water Governance Advisor
World Water Week EU Water Initiative – Special Session
Stockholm, 24 August 2005
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

2. UNDP’s Water-related Work
IWRM & WSS:
Focusing on water governance;
Human Development (and Human Rights) approach;
Poverty-reduction / MDGs
Projects in Europe & CIS:
Transboundary (regional) level: IWRM in Danube & Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Dnipro, Kura-Aras (S. Caucasus), Lake Peipsi & Prespa, Upper Syr Darya (Ferghana Valley), …  UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, mainly GEF (approx. US$ 75 Mio. last decade) & EU/bilateral co-funded
National level: numerous IWRM & WSS interventions  implemented through UNDP Country Offices …
… for example: Kazakhstan – IWRM & Water Efficiency Plan
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

3. The Project: “National IWRM & WE Plan for Kazakhstan”
Time Frame:
Partners:
Kazakh Committee for Water Resources (CWR)
Government of Norway
Global Water Partnership (GWP)
Department for Int’l Development (DFID)
Co-funding: Total USD 1.62 mil.
Norway (cash) USD mil.
GWP (in-kind) USD 320,000
UNDP (cash) USD 100,000
DFID (cash) pounds 50,000
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

4. Kazakhstan Context Water Use by sector:
71% Agriculture (85% of which irrigation)
24.4 % Industry / 0.6 % Fisheries
4 % Domestic Use
44% of water comes from neighboring countries (6 out of 8 river basins in KAZ are transboundary)
WB Study in 66 local communities reported hard ship & conflicts over water, land & energy use in 50%
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

5. Why IWRM ? (Kazakhstan Context II)
Water Resources Management in K. is:
… Fragmented (Committee for Water Resources (CWR) in MoA, yet: monitoring  management; separate quality/quantity monitoring; surface  groundwater management; water services  sanitation providers)
… Under-funded  MAIN REASON: WRM not seen as revenue earning area.
… Poorly governed (new Water Code (2003): good potential for IWRM, but currently not used / enforced)
At present, no organization has the responsibility to manage Kazakhstan’s water resources
“Water scarcity” as a result of ineffective management
(Johannesburg directive)
… Fragmented (Committee for Water Resources (CWR) in MoA; monitoring  management; separate quality/quantity monitoring; surface  groundwater management; water services  sanitation providers)
… Under-funded (deteriorating capacity of CWR (understaffing, education); deteriorating monitoring network; under-funded RBOs  decreasing management & responsibility; less research & training)
 MAIN REASON: WRM not seen as revenue earning area.
… Poorly governed (in addition to above: new Water Code (2003) not enforced; supply-oriented thinking / approach: emphasis on increasing supplies, rather than decreasing demands)
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

6. Kazakhstan context III: Main Barriers towards IWRM
Poor public understanding & involvement,
Poor governance, capacity (govt. investment; RBOs), transparency, …
Water Info: Lacking, poorly accessible and/or managed
Education Gap (water-related expertise / national capacity)
Soviet Legacy:
Vanish of central resource allocation & management
New borders = new compartmentalization of watersheds
“Low sympathy” for water pricing
Water-Energy Nexus dominates dialogue
Government:
Administrative weaknesses & poor governance & Low willingness for govt. investments (see above)
Limited understanding & support, and low Status of CWR
Limited admin. & technical capacity of RBOs
Low Transparency & Accountability
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

7. The Guiding Principles
IWRM is about Governance!
Integrating government policies through governmental, institutional & legislative reforms (e.g. agricultural with environment & water policies; Environment with municipal WSS policies; poverty reduction with water policies, etc.)
IWRM is a Process!
IWRM speaks to Efficiency – 2 Types:
Technical E.: efficient use, minimizing waste ( demand management) example: decrease irrigation losses
Allocative E.: economic efficiency, water to highest value user ( supply management), requires social responsibility; example: “release” water from agriculture for higher valued Drinking Water use ( lowering social/health costs, etc.)
Agricultural with environmental & water management policies;
Agricultural with intl. transboundary p.;
Environment with industrial & municipal WSS policies (little economic sense to allow industrial sector to pollute water bodies);
POVERTY REDUCTION with water policies!
Kazakhstan: Water Code (‘03) with Environment Code (‘06)
 supply management); assumes prior met sociological & environmental needs
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

8. UNDP’s Strategic Approach
Basis:
Johannesburg Directive;
Build on Kazakhstan Water Code (2003);
Assist Committee for Water Resources (CWR).
Water Quality Management  Responsibility of River Basin Organisations (RBO) = Subsidiary Principle
Adopt EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) approach
EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) approach:
WHY?
WFD is the most comprehensive, most forward looking water or environmental legislation ever;
Combines decade of thinking about best way to govern water and manage environment;
Changes the way we think about managing rivers & the ecology of river basins.
WHAT?
achieving “good status”, definition & approach to achieve this is river-basin specific!
River Basin Management Plans
Protection of human uses of water (water can be efficiently and economically treated for human use) & Protection of the ecosystem structure and function  Both require protection of the watershed from pollution and/or inappropriate uses and stresses
HOW?
prioritize water quality – firm link between water management and ecology / environment
shift from monitoring to managing
Monitoring: shift from pollution / contamination to managing a healthy river environment
Monitoring: shift from chemical towards ecological/biological indicators
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

9. Main objectives & Milestones
National IWRM and W.E. Plan [End 2005], and IWRM Plans for all River basins [2007]
Establish 8 River Basin Councils [2006]
Preparation of a Strategy for Achievement of MDGs for WSS [End 2006]
Improving cooperation and development of partnerships at regional and country levels
Outlook:
: Schemes for comprehensive use & protection of Water Resources
: Fully adapting EU WFD
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

10. 1. National IWRM & WE Plan: 4 Initial Focus Areas
Instituting Management of Water Quality & Ecology
Responsibility, information gaps, cooperation
Achieving the MDGs for WSS (2015)
Safe DW through better/cheaper raw water quality;
Capacity development, etc.
Addressing Water Use Efficiency
Mind shift: Water pricing and institutional cooperation
Preparing for Transboundary IWRM
Start small (simpler bi-lateral agreements, bring RBOs up to speed, address “in-house” issues first)
 IWRM & WE Plan: primarily institutional (organizational, financial) in scope, not infrastructural or operational
Instituting Management of Water Quality & Ecology
Now: no one responsible for quality; lacking information basis for management decisions
Will force decision on ultimate responsible organization for water quality (improvement), and cooperation among several key institutions
Achieving the MDGs for WSS (2015)
Will increase water consumption!  Water Managers, be prepared!
Quality aspect: “Safe” DW through effective & complete treatment; better/cheaper with reasonable raw water quality  direct link to policy on industrial discharge & municipal treatment
Required: capacity building; good coordination RBOs – govt – other; adequate govt investments into WSS infrastructure
Addressing Water Use Efficiency
Biggest overall problem in Kazakhstan (delta wetlands dry-out; land degradation/salination; drainage water disposal problems; river water quality impact; transboundary aspect)
WE is not part of the culture as water always perceived to be a free good – This perception also needs to be changed
Only solvable when bringing many organizations together;
Preparing for International Transboundary IWRM
Capacity building! – Bringing RBOs “up to speed”
Start with simpler, bi-lateral agreements (few aspects of water sharing)  learn and buold on later
 IWRM & WE Plan: primarily institutional (organizational, financial) in scope, not infrastructural or operational
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

11. 2. How to set up River Basin Councils
What is it?
Advisory body for River Basin Organizations (RBO), NOT a water resources manager
Expanded participation
Instituted in 2003 Water Code (Art. 43)
Key issues requiring serious consideration:
Funding
Information (basis for functioning & effective counseling for RBO)
Reliability & Trust: for stakeholders to participate as RBC members, they have to be sure this is a tool to truly influence RBO & RB decisions
Since there’s no model: “Learning by Doing”
Set-up step by step to truly include/represent all water users, and cautiously empower to provide effective RBO advice
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

12. 3. Strategy for Achieving Water MDGs
Achieving MDG target (10) = “Potential” (= can be achieved on time given appropriate effort & support!)
 Complete working plan with concrete projects & full financial streaming – Main steps:
Define “Sustainable Access to Safe DW & Sanitation”
Quantifying Current Level of Access
Determining priorities, specific works, financial requirements
Determining strategy to meet financial costs
Outlining strategy
Strongly linked to Objective 1 (IWRM & WE Plan):
Basis for Plan development
Involvement of all stakeholders required (CWR, RBO, etc.)
MDG 7, Target 10: “Halve by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water & sanitation”
Also target 9: Integrate principles of sustainable development into policies & programmes, reverse environment resources loss
Achieving water-MDGs support all other MDGs
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

13. (Preliminary) Conclusions & Lessons Learned
Before actually starting to draft the IWRM Plan, much more efforts than expected were required to actually prepare (all) partners for IWRM
Approach promising:
Bottom-up: build RBO & RBCs
“Inside-out” (build capacity before attempting (transboundary) IWRM
Decentralization: The right way to go
Some risk that it leads towards ambiguity about responsibilities & ownership of rural WSS systems, hence to low willingness to invest.
Kazakhstan Case: many country specific factors (e.g Water Code)
careful when replicating!
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

14. Why Linking WSS & IWRM in Kazakhstan ?
Fulfillment of WSS MDGs will require more Water for People (as will economic growth) BUT: Kazakhstan’s absolute Water Resources unlikely to increase in future
Increased demands can only be met by improving efficiency:
DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT
 Best done through IWRM
Safe Drinking Water requires effective treatment
This requires “reasonable” raw water (surface & ground) quality,
..is linked to (industrial & municipal) discharge policy
..requires also capacity (CWR, RBOs, Vodokanals, Health Ministry, etc.) for coordination
Speaks to IWRM
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

15. WSS & IWRM Links IWRM is not only about Quantity  Quality Aspects:
Quality-quantity trade-off:
Even if chances are good to provide adequate water quantities, the poor quality still limits accessibility to safe drinking water
WSS is causing and receiving side of pollution
In summary: WSS reveals …
… limited potentials for quantitative achievements per se, but
… a significant potential in Water Res. Management trough qualitative improvements (cost effectiveness; economic efficiency)
 Outlook: Large Social Survey on WSS underway (MDG Strategy)
7’500 Questionnaires+ 240 Semi-structured interviews & 16 Focus groups
Focusing specifically on IWRM-WSS links
 Report expected in 2-3 months…
UNDP Regional Centre for Europe & CIS – Bratislava SK
UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic

16. For more Information: www.voda.kz www.undp.kz www.undp.sk
Thank You!
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UNDP Regional Centre - Bratislava / Slovak Republic