AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT IN Technical Report

THE ROLE OF WATER USER ASSOCIATIONS IN IMPROVING THE WATER FOR ENERGY NEXUS

Agricultural Water Management in Tajikistan

The Role of Water User Associations in Improving the Water for Energy Nexus

Technical Report

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Contributors to the report:

Ronan Shenhav, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

Stefanos Xenarios, Stefanos Xenarios, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Daler Domullodzhanov, National Consultant, , Tajikistan

The materials in this publication are for information purposes only. While the OSCE endeavour to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the contents of this publication, the views, findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the OSCE and its participating States. The OSCE does not accept any liability for any loss which may arise from the reliance on information contained in this publication.

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Programme Office in Dushanbe https://www.osce.org/programme-office-in-dushanbe/ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers.

OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe Ahmadi Donish Str., 18/A 734012 Dushanbe, Tajikistan Phone: +992 37 226-50-14/15 Fax: +992 37 226-50-19 Acronyms

ASL Above Sea Level ADB Asian Development Bank ALRI Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation DCC Development Coordination Council DRS Districts of Republican Subordination EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EU European Union GBAO Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast GoT Government of Tajikistan GW Gigawatt kW Kilowatt kWh Kilowatt per Hour ISF Irrigation Service Fee IWRM Integrated Water Resource Management MEWR Ministry of Energy and Water Resources MW Megawatt NGO Non-Governmental Organization NSFPSP National Center for Farms Privatization Support project RBO River Basin Organization RBC River Basin Council SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation TJS Tajikistani Somoni UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme USAID United States Agency for International Development US$ United States Dollars WB World Bank WUA Water Users Association

Contents

Figures ...... 4 Tables ...... 4 Introduction ...... 1 Chapter 1. The energy-water nexus: hydropower supply and demand ...... 3 1.1 Water Resources and Climate in Tajikistan ...... 3 1.2 Energy produce in Soviet and Post-Soviet period in Central Asia ...... 6 1.3 Hydropower opportunities and challenges ...... 7 1.4 Energy trading ...... 9 1.5 National energy policy ...... 11 Chapter 2. The energy-food nexus: agricultural water management ...... 12 2.1 Agricultural water use in Central Asia and Tajikistan ...... 12 2.2 Land and water policy reform ...... 14 2.3 Food security ...... 16 2.4 Agricultural energy consumption ...... 19 2.5 Agricultural energy tariffs ...... 22 Chapter 3. Water User Associations: emergence and capacity...... 26 3.1 Introduction of WUAs to Central Asia and Tajikistan ...... 26 3.2 Administrative profile of WUAs in Tajikistan ...... 28 3.3 WUAs and financial mechanisms ...... 31 3.4 Technical capacity of WUAs ...... 33 Chapter 4. Challenges and interventions in WUAs and irrigation ...... 35 4.1 Challenges in irrigation systems of Tajikistan ...... 35 4.2 Interventions for improving irrigation systems in Tajikistan ...... 36 Concluding remarks ...... 41 References ...... 43 Annex 1. Example of calculating costs of mobile assets in WUAs ...... 46 Annex 2. Defect Log Template of Commission for WUA ...... 47 Endnotes ...