Masterarbeit / Master's Thesis
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MASTERARBEIT / MASTER’S THESIS Titel der Masterarbeit / Title of the Master‘s Thesis „Water governance and hydrosocial relations in the Toktogul waterscape, Kyrgyzstan“ verfasst von / submitted by Florian Rudaz, Bachelor of Arts (BA) angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) Wien, 2018/ Vienna, 2018 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 066 589 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt / Masterstudium Internationale Entwicklung degree programme as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: Dr. Judith Ehlert Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to thank Univ.-Prof. Dr. Judith Ehlert for her guidance, her contributions of ideas for this Master thesis and the support any student could possibly wish to receive. Special thanks go to my family who supported me and always pushed towards doing what I like. I especially want to thank my brother who made me discover Kyrgyzstan. Thank you also to Richie for the long and sometimes late but always interesting talks. He will surely recognize his influence in these pages. Finally, I thank everybody that helped me along my research and writing to accomplish my thesis. II Abstract This thesis traces the hydrosocial relations around the Kambar-Ata 1, a long-planned and never finished dam in Kyrgyzstan. Combining the hydrosocial cycle (Linton and Budds, 2010) with an actor-oriented approach (Long, 2001), this work reveals the social embeddedness of water within society. Paying attention to the historical-geographical circumstances of the location of the dam, characteristics of the waterscape influencing people’s relation to water and to the long- awaited project of the Kambar-Ata 1 are exposed. Yet, this same waterscape is shaped by the social relations as well as the nature-society relations occurring in it, relations based on the assumption that water and nature are a force to be harnessed and used for the development of the country. The analysis shows that idea of water for energy is already strongly embedded within society and the construction of additional dam only reinforces this view, as well as the relations between actors and their own relation to water. Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit den hydrosozialen Verhältnissen, die den bereits in den 1980ern geplanten, aber nie fertiggestellten Kambar-Ata 1 Staudamm in Kirgistan umgeben. Die hydrosocial cycle (Linton & Budds, 2014) und actor-oriented approach (Long, 2001), verdeutlichen dabei den theoretischen Fokus der Arbeit; die Einbettung des Wassers in der Gesellschaft. Weil historische und geographische Umstände für ein Großprojekts signifikant sind sowie die Eigenschaften und Charakteristika der Wasserlandschaft (Waterscape) selbst, werden beide Dimensionen expliziert. Dabei wird deutlich, dass diese sich gegenseitig beeinflussen. Sie werden einerseits innerhalb allgemeiner gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisses zum Wasser und andererseits in den, den Staudamm umgebenden sozialen Verhältnisse verhandelt. Die Analyse zeigt, dass Natur, Wasser bzw. der Fluss Naryn für seine ökonomisch- energetischen Möglichkeiten bewertet wird und innerhalb eines größeren Paradigmas der nationalen Entwicklung diskursiv verankert ist, weshalb die Produktion von Elektrizität durch Wasserkraft im Rahmen des Modern Water (Linton, 2010) Begriffs verstehbar ist. Dieser macht die Bedeutung von Energiegewinnung aus Wasserkraft in der kirgisischen Gesellschaft sichtbar und verdeutlicht gerade dessen soziale Einbettung. Die Fertigstellung des Kambar-Ata 1 wird sowohl das gesellschaftliche Entwicklungsparadigma, als auch das Verhältnis zwischen sozialen Akteuren, durch deren gemeinsamen Bezug auf „Wasserkraft“, intensivieren. III Contents 1 List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... V 2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 3 Objectives of the research .................................................................................................. 3 4 Key publications on the water-society relation and Kyrgyzstan ........................................ 4 5 Water management in Central Asia ................................................................................... 6 6 Problem definition ............................................................................................................ 11 7 Theoretical framework ..................................................................................................... 13 7.1 Interpretations of Water infrastructures and the meaning of water ...................................... 13 7.2 The hydrosocial cycle and hydrosocial relations .................................................................. 14 7.2.1. The embeddedness of water within society ................................................................. 15 7.2.2. Multiplicity of waters ................................................................................................... 17 7.3 Long’s actor-oriented approach to development intervention .............................................. 20 7.3.1. Deconstructing development intervention ................................................................... 23 7.3.2. Time-space definition in orthodox intervention models. ............................................. 24 7.3.3. Agency and structure ................................................................................................... 25 7.3.4. The notion of social arena ............................................................................................ 28 8 Research Question ............................................................................................................ 29 9 Methodology and methods ............................................................................................... 32 10 A Kyrgyz Waterscape ...................................................................................................... 43 10.1 Social production of space and water ................................................................................... 43 10.2 Actors, agency and counter-discourse(s) in the waterscape ................................................. 53 11 The hydraulic mission of Kyrgyzstan .............................................................................. 57 11.1 Electricity comes to the yurts ............................................................................................... 60 11.2 Controlling water. ................................................................................................................. 63 12 Modern Water in Kyrgyzstan ........................................................................................... 70 12.1 The concept of IWRM .......................................................................................................... 72 12.2 Articulation of modern water in the Kyrgyz Republic ......................................................... 73 13 Damming the river to modernize the country .................................................................. 79 14 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 90 15 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 95 16 Annex ............................................................................................................................. 107 IV 1 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ADB Asian Development Bank CAR Central Asian Republic CIS Commonwealth of Independent States CPR Common Pool Resource EEU Eurasian Economic Union GDP Gross Domestic Product GWP Global Water Partnership HPP Hydropower Plant ICWC Interstate Commission for Water Coordination IMF International Monetary Fund IO International Organization ISI Import Substitution Industrialization IWRM Integrated Water Resources Management KGS Kyrgyzstani Som kWh Kilowatt hour MDG Millennium Development Goal MW Megawatt NGO Non-Governmental Agency NSDS National Sustainable Development Strategy NWRMP National Water Resources Management Project O&M Operation & maintenance OJSC Open Joint Stock Company OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe PRS(P) Poverty Reduction Poverty (Paper) RFERL Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDG Sustainable Development Goal UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNPEI Poverty-Environment Initiative of UNDP and UNEP USAID United States Agency for International Development USD US-Dollar USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics WUA Water User Association V 2 INTRODUCTION This research focuses on the relationship between Water and Society around the construction of the Kambar-Ata 1 dam on the Naryn river in Kyrgyzstan. Located in Central Asia, the Kyrgyz Republic’s history has long been related to water. Some of the biggest transformations of Kyrgyzstan’s landscape – and waterscape – are due to the management of water resources implemented by the soviet regime. Focused on wool and cotton industry, which requires high volume