ISFARA RIVER BASIN Location The Isfara river basin is located in northern Tajikistan and south-western Kyrgyzstan. The river originates in the northern slopes of the Turkestan Range at an altitude of 4,500-5,000 m and flows northwards through the Ferghana valley towards the Syrdarya river. The total length amounts to about 107 km, the catchment area – 3240 km2. The Isfara is a snow-glacier fed river. High waters start in the second half of April, and in some years in May and lasts to October. The average annual discharge adds up to 457.3 million m3. The Isfara river basin belongs to Sugdh Oblast in Tajikistan and to Batken Oblast in Kyrgyzstan. Population Total population in Isfara basin equals almost half a million (498,636) people, majority of which lives in Tajik part (84.1%) of the basin. Majority of the population are people of 16-60 ages (48.6%), followed by children (38.5%), and elders (12.9%). Figure 1. Population in Isfara river basin The population density in Isfara river basin is 134 people per km2. In Tajik part, the density is higher (251.6 people per km2), while in Kyrgyz part - 16.6 people per km2. Figure 2. Population density in the Isfara basin Ethnicities differ much on both sides of Isfara river. Closer to 2012, the Kyrgyz part of the basin has become mainly mono-ethnical (Kyrgyz people constitute 99.5% of population), while the Tajik part of the basin is multi-national; still majority of the population in the basin constitute Tajik people (84.4%). Figure 3. Ethnicity in Kyrgyz part of Isfara river Figure 4. Ethnicity in Tajik part of Isfara river basin basin Drinking water supply Despite the fact that Isfara basin has large reserves of water resources, the access of population to safe drinking water supply is limited. In Tajik part of the basin, in average 29.1% of population in the basin is provided with drinking water. They use water from irrigation ditches and imported water. The pump stations and water pipelines are worn out and almost unusable. The situation is similar in the Kyrgyz part of Isfara basin. Water is supplied to the communities only 2-3 hours a day. Moreover, illnesses such as typhoid and hepatitis are widely spread due to the poor drinking water quality. More than 50% of incidences of this disease are registered in Isfara. The governments of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan launched programs to improve drinking water supply to the population (e.g. “Clean water” in Kyrgyzstan, and “Improvement of drinking water supply 2007-2020” in Tajikistan), in the frame of which water supply systems were reconstructed and conditions of main facilities were improved. However, the overall problem of providing the population with good quality drinking water has not been fully resolved yet. Role of agriculture in the local economy Next to industry, agriculture plays an important role in the local economic development. This is due to the fact that 74.3% of the population in Isfara basin are live in rural area and are engaged in agriculture. Eighteen agricultural cooperatives, 151 peasant farms, more than 2744 family and individual farms use land for the production of agricultural products, 8 associations, and 1 open joint-stock company were created instead of the former collective farms. In the structure of crop sowing, most areas are planted with cotton, or used for gardens (fruit trees) and forage cultivation. In addition, grains, rice, vegetables are grown in the region. There are no agricultural advisory services present in the region. Consultations to farms on agricultural production are provided mainly by specialists of the existing associations; however, this does not meet the current demands. The main limitation in agricultural production is lack of water for irrigation. Irrigation Irrigation is an important component of agricultural development in the basin. About 43000 ha of lands are irrigated using the river Isfara. Most irrigated areas are in Tajik part of Isfara basin – 31000 ha (or 72%), followed by Kyrgyz part – 9013 ha (21%), and Uzbek – 3000 ha (7%). The irrigation and drainage network was built in 1970s-1990s, and was oriented for water use of that period. Nowadays, the network does not meet demands of water users. As a result, problems of water scarcity, water logging, increase in groundwater level and soil salinity appeared. There are 553 water users associations in Tajik part of Isfara basin. A water supply contract is concluded with water users annually. Numerous state and international programs were implemented to address the problems of irrigation water provision and land reclamation, among which program “On measures to improve reclamation of irrigated agricultural lands for 2010–2014” (Government of Tajikistan), “Promoting integrated water resources management and fostering transboundary dialogue in Central Asia” (GIZ), Regional dialogue and cooperation on water resources management in Central Asia”; Restoration of drinking water supply in Shurab and Isfara” (UNDP). Transboundary water management There exist several water distribution agreements in Isfara river basin that were signed during the Soviet era, inter alia Protocol of 1958 (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), Protocol of 1982 (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), and Protocol of water distribution between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan of 1989. Despite these agreements, there arise mutual dissatisfactions among Kyrgyzs and Tajiks populations with regard to water use, especially during the vegetation season. Figure 5. Water distribution according to the Protocol Figure 6. Water distribution according to the Protocol signed signed in 1958 in 1982 The countries sharing Isfara river are in the process of reconsidering their water laws to incorporate principles of integrated water management and basin planning principles. However, legal and institutional framework along with capacities of officials must be strengthened to implement these principles in practice. Migration Labor migration in the Isfara river basin has become widespread in recent years, due to lack of employment and low salaries. The working-age population from the villages, especially cross-border villages, continuously leaves seeking for jobs in other countries (e.g. Russia and Kazakhstan). In 2010-2012, 10.6% of the total population in the basin left. Women migrants constitute about 30%. In 2010, the population of Kanibadam district (Tajik part of Isfara river basin) received remittances from labor migrants totaling 39,936.1 thousand USD, 1624.8 million Russian rubles and 119.9 thousand Euros. Key socio-economic directions in Isfara Economic development of the districts in Isfara basin greatly depends on industrial activity. The main industries present in the region are light industry, food industry, processing of agricultural and other food products, mining and processing, production of oil, gas and coal, production of construction materials, cotton processing, oil refining and machine building industries (including wagon repair and production of spare parts for cars and agricultural machinery), metal processing workshop and gas stations. Small and medium businesses account for 35% of the local budget. There are 4869 small and medium-sized businesses, including 3504 individual entrepreneurs, who work on a patent-based system and 1365 people working on the basis of certificate of private entrepreneurs. The increasing number of small businesses is due to labor migration: businesses are opened either using the money of labor migrants or by the returning labor migrants themselves. .