Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report Project Number: 45353-001 (RETA 8015) June 2013 Kyrgyz Republic: Developing Water Resources Sector Strategies in Central and West Asia Financed by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund under the Water Financing Partnership Facility and ADB TASF-other sources Prepared by AHT Group AG Management and Engineering UNICON For the Asian Development Bank This consultant’s report does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or the Government concerned, and ADB and the Government cannot be held liable for its contents. (For project preparatory technical assistance: All the views expressed herein may not be incorporated into the proposed project’s design. CENTRAL AND WEST ASIA Developing Water Resources Sector Strategies in Central and West Asia Kyrgyz Republic (TA8015-REG) Submitted to: Asian Development Bank FINAL REPORT Submitted by: June 2013 ADB TA8015-REG Final Report Kyrgyz Republic CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS Currency Unit – Kyrgyz Som (KS) (17 May 2013) KS1.00 = $0.020777 $1.00 = KS48.13 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank BCR – benefit/cost ratio CBA – cost/benefit analysis DCP – Draft Concept Paper DWEM – Department of Water Economy and Melioration1 FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization FWOP – future without project GKR – Government of the Kyrgyz Republic ISF – irrigation service fee MoAM – Ministry of Agriculture and Melioration MOE – Ministry of Economy MOF – Ministry of Finance NGO – Non Governmental Organization NWC – National Water Council O&M – operations and maintenance OFWM – on-farm water management OIP – On-Farm Irrigation Project PIM – participatory irrigation management RAS – Rural Advisory Services SDC – Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SU – support unit TA – technical assistance WOP – Water Operational Plan WMIP – Water Management Improvement Project WUA(F) – Water Users Association (Federation) WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Ha – hectare km – kilometer m – meter m3 – cubic meter NOTES (i) The fiscal year (FY) of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic ends on 31 December. FY before a calendar year denotes the year in which the fiscal year ends. (ii) In this report, "$" refers to US dollars. 1 In October 2012 renamed Department of Water Economy and Melioration and Land Improvement AHT / UBI / UNICON i ADB TA8015-REG Final Report Kyrgyz Republic CONTENTS Page 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 1 PART A: SECTOR ASSESSMENT.......................................................................................... 2 2 WATER SECTOR OVERVIEW .......................................................................................... 2 2.1 Water Resources ...................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Water Consumption and Demand ............................................................................. 3 2.3 Climate Change ........................................................................................................ 8 2.4 Assessment of Water Resources .............................................................................. 9 3 WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................ 10 3.1 Legal, Policy and Planning Framework ................................................................... 10 3.2 Water Management Institutions............................................................................... 11 3.3 Assessment of Water Resource Management ........................................................ 12 4 IRRIGATION SYSTEM MANAGEMENT.......................................................................... 13 4.1 Management of Main Infrastructure......................................................................... 14 4.2 Management of On-Farm Infrastructure .................................................................. 15 4.3 Management of Farm-Level Irrigation Infrastructure................................................ 25 4.4 Assessment of Irrigation System Management ....................................................... 27 5 IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE........................................................................................... 29 5.1 Review of Irrigated Agriculture ................................................................................ 29 5.2 Potential Causes of Low Agricultural Productivity.................................................... 33 6 IDENTIFICATION OF KEY CHALLENGES ..................................................................... 37 6.1 Results of Sector Assessment ................................................................................ 37 6.2 Results of Stakeholder Consultations...................................................................... 37 6.3 Key Challenges....................................................................................................... 39 PART B: SECTOR STRATEGIES ......................................................................................... 40 7 PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPING WATER SECTOR STRATEGIES.............................. 40 7.1 Assessment of Financing Gap ................................................................................ 40 7.2 Qualitative Assessment of Potential Benefits of Resolving Key Challenges ............ 41 7.3 Prioritization of Strategies ....................................................................................... 41 8 DEFINITION OF RECOMMENDED WATER SECTOR STRATEGY................................ 43 PART C: PRIORITY PROJECTS.......................................................................................... 52 9 PRIORITIZATION OF INVESTMENT PROJECTS........................................................... 52 9.1 Overview of the Proposed Methodology.................................................................. 52 9.2 Screening................................................................................................................ 52 9.3 Ranking................................................................................................................... 56 9.4 Subproject #1: Reconstruction of Sarymsak Canal.................................................. 57 9.5 Subproject #2: Construction of Water Storage Pond on Shamshy river................... 58 PART D: PROJECT CONCEPT............................................................................................. 60 10 THE PROJECT ................................................................................................................ 60 AHT / UBI / UNICON ii ADB TA8015-REG Final Report Kyrgyz Republic 10.1 Rationale................................................................................................................. 60 10.2 Impact, Outcome, and Outputs ............................................................................... 61 10.3 Investment and Financing Plans ............................................................................. 62 10.4 Indicative Implementation Arrangements ................................................................ 62 10.5 Technical Assistance .............................................................................................. 62 10.6 Due Diligence.......................................................................................................... 63 10.7 Plan Processing ...................................................................................................... 64 PART E: REMOTE SENSING AND IMAGE INTERPRETATION........................................... 65 11 REMOTE SENSING OF SUBPROJECTS ....................................................................... 65 11.1 Remote Sensing for Supporting Irrigation Water Management................................ 65 11.2 Application of Remote Sensing to Subprojects........................................................ 66 11.3 Resource and Data Requirements .......................................................................... 68 11.4 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 69 12 PROPOSED SYSTEM TO MONITOR IRRIGATION PERFORMANCE WITH REMOTE SENSING DATA.............................................................................................. 70 12.1 Approach ................................................................................................................ 70 12.2 Phase 1: Assessment of Current POW ................................................................... 70 12.3 Phase 2: Contribute to POW Improvement Strategy ............................................... 74 12.4 Phase 3 & 4: Project Implementation and Subproject O&M..................................... 75 APPENDICES 1. PROBLEM TREE ................................................................................................................. 76 2. DESIGN AND MONITORING FRAMEWORK....................................................................... 77 3. INITIAL POVERTY AND SOCIAL ANALYSIS....................................................................... 79 4. PROJECT PREPARATORY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE..................................................... 81 5. REVIEW OF COUNTRY SECTOR STRATEGY ................................................................... 85 6. SUMMARY OF RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ....................................................... 87 7. PRIORITIZATION OF SUBPROJECTS...............................................................................