TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE COMPLETION REPORT Division: CWER TA No., Country and Name Amount Approved: $998,000

TA 6486-REG: Improved Management of Water Resources in Revised Amount: N.A. Central Asia Executing Agency: Source of Funding: Amount Undisbursed: Amount Utilized: Asian Development Bank Multi-Donor Trust Fund $131,763.00 $866,237.00 under the Water Financing Partnership Facility TA Approval TA Signing Fielding of First TA Completion Date Date: Date: Consultant: Original: 21 March 2010 Actual: 31 December 2013 12 September N/A 22 January 2009 Account Closing Date 2008 Original: 31 March 2010 Actual: 31 May 2014 Description. The and Amu Darya rivers are major water resources for five Central Asian Republics (CARs: , the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) that flow into the Aral Sea. The rivers are significant for the economic growth and welfare of CARs, providing water for irrigation, municipal and domestic uses. Despite significant improvement of irrigation infrastructure during the Soviet time, water and land resources management has been unsustainable. As a result, the Aral Sea had shrunk by more than 50% and become hypersaline. This has damaged the ecosystem and has had significant negative environmental, social, and economic impacts for the four million people living in the vicinity of the Aral Sea. The governments of the CARs signed an agreement in 1992 to establish the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) to oversee water allocation. The CARs and their development partners established the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea in 1994 and finalized the first Aral Sea Basin Program in 1997. The first Aral Sea Basin Program included regional water strategies, information systems, water quality management, integrated land and water resources management, and capacity building. In 2003, CARs prepared the second Aral Sea Basin Program for 2003 to 2010. Despite the attention and resources devoted to the first and second Aral Sea Basin Programs, little progress was made in rectifying the environmental, social, and economic problems created through desiccation of the Aral Sea.1

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, water allocation among the CARs, which used to be centrally planned to maximize benefits from irrigation and power generation was decided annually on an ad hoc basis and managed by the basin water management organizations for the Syr Darya and Amu Darya under ICWC. Afghanistan was not included in the water allocation decision making although it contributes more than one-fifth of the water in the Amu Darya. Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic have collaborated to ensure efficient regional water resources management in their international rivers, the Chu and by establishing the Chu-Talas Joint Rivers Commission (CTJRC) in 2000. This regional technical assistance (RETA) was to support further improvements in regional cooperation for Syr Dayra, Amu Darya and CTJRC, building on the results of RETA 6163.2

Expected Impact, Outcome and Outputs. The expected impact of the RETA was sustainable economic development in CARs and Afghanistan through improvements in regional cooperation on transboundary water resources management. Intended three outcomes were: (i) an improved knowledge base and capacity for water resources management of the Amu Darya; (ii) a stronger institutional framework for water resources management of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, and an institutionalized forum and process to support dialogue and further actions; and (iii) a more reliable water supply in the Chu-Talas river basin. There were five outputs planned to: (i) improve Hydromet network and mechanisms in the Amu Darya basin with Hydrometeorological data, (ii) develop methodology and assessment of benefits and trade-offs from different regional cooperation scenarios in the Amu Darya basin, (iii) scope additional studies to support regional cooperation for water resources, (iv) improve and institutionalize mechanisms to enhance regional cooperation and policy dialogue on water management in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya basins, and (v) enhance CTJRC’s functions to be fully operational and self-financed.

Delivery of Inputs and Conduct of Activities. Two sets of activities were carried out for supporting improvements on: (i) regional cooperation for the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, and (ii) bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic in the Chu-Talas river basin. The RETA budget originally included 17 person-months of international consultants and 144 person-months of national consultants. An international individual consultant was

1 The third Aral Sea Basin Program for 2011-2015 was finalized in 2010 to foster existing water resources management, strengthen institutional and legal systems of water management, and includes climate change activities. The Program for 2011 to 2015 is ongoing and expected to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals. For more information, see United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2010. Central Asian States finalize the Third Aral Sea Basin Program. http://www.unece.org/press/pr2010/10env_p43e.html 2 ADB. 2003. Technical Assistance for Improved Management of Shared Water Resources in Central Asia. Manila. mobilized in December 2008 and delivered an inception report. However, due to difficulties of working in the various countries, it was agreed to increase inputs of national consultants rather than the international consultant, to suit the situation of each country. Therefore, the actual inputs were 5 person-months of international consultants and 336 person-months of national consultants. National consultants from Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic were engaged in supporting the CTJRC. Both the governments of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic were satisfied with the quality of outputs by the national consultants. No national consultants were engaged from other countries. Meetings of all the riparian states were held to discuss the revised existing Syr Darya water sharing agreement and a proposed Amu Darya agreement. Capacity building on transboundary water management and agreements was also provided, yet transboundary issues continue to be sensitive among all the concerned in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya. In the process of delivering outputs in the Chu-Talas river basin, the following activities were carried out: (i) nature protection monitoring was improved; (ii) recommendations on climate change adaptation activities were developed; (iii) public awareness materials and a video were prepared; and (iv) a study tour was conducted to expose key participants to the experience of the Mekong River Commission. A Secretariat and working groups were established and supported improvement in the following areas: (i) water resources institutional arrangements; (ii) water resources management; and (iii) operation and maintenance. The RETA completion date was extended for five months in March 2010, to ensure successful implementation of ongoing activities. The completion date was eventually extended three times further until 31 December 2013 to continue supporting the CTJRC. The CTJRC held 11 meetings to review the progress and discuss the action plan on: (i) institutional and legal arrangements; (ii) computerized water assessment and allocation; (iii) climate change and safeguards; and (iv) capacity building, public awareness and cooperation.3

Evaluation of Outputs and Achievement of Outcome. The implementation of activities under outputs 1 to 4 had very limited progress. Activities for output 5 were implemented by water management authorities of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic through the CTJRC. The CTJRC achieved the following: (i) amendments to the 2000 Agreement were developed and agreed with the concerned national ministries and agencies; (ii) a water assessment and allocation (WAA) module was calibrated and validated for the Kyrgyz part of the Talas River; and (iii) draft integrated water resources management (IWRM) plans for the Chu-Talas river basin were developed and agreed with stakeholders. All achievements are recorded in the RETA report submitted by CTJRC.

Overall Assessment and Rating. The RETA has not fully achieved its intended outcomes and is rated less than successful. Support to improve functions of the CTJRC was implemented successfully. The bilateral cooperation on Chu-Talas river basin is a successful example, implemented in a spirit of mutual trust and understanding, for transboundary water management in Central Asia. There are indications that other countries in the region are learning from the experience for possible replication in their river basins. However, activities for the Syr Darya and Amu Darya were implemented unsuccessfully since riparian countries were not able to sign new long-term agreements on these basins although several meetings were conducted.

Major Lessons. In order to reach mutual agreements, commitment from all participating countries and the broader perspectives of political and economic relationships among the participating countries and their priorities are important. At the beginning of the RETA, careful consultations with each country should have been done. The RETA spent much time to make adjustments due to the different political concerns of each country to obtain their consensus. Additionally, different priorities among the countries caused significant delays on project implementations and limit results.

Recommendations and Follow-Up Actions. In preparing similar RETA, considerations shall be given to political realities of participating countries and their priorities. It is also recommended for similar future RETAs to have realistic scopes of work, i.e., in case of this RETA, it might have been better to segregate activities in three river basins, i.e., Syr Darya, Amu Darya and Chu-Talas under three separate projects. Further assessments and support to the CTJRC to fully develop its functions is recommended. The CTJRC has made steady progress since 2008. However, successful transboundary water management requires prolonged participatory process to achieve: (i) approval of the formal revision of the bilateral agreement on the use of interstate water facilities; (ii) introduction of calibrated and validated of the WAA module in both river basins; and (iii) implementation of agreed IWRM plans.

Prepared by: Manami Suga Designation: Natural Resources Economist In preparing any country program strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

3 Activities and results of the RETA will be posted on www.chutalas-commission.org.