Eurasian Integration Yearbook 2012

Advanced Economic Cooperationin Sectors and Industrieschanges. The location of the region and the landlocked position of its countriesrequire the expansion of trade and other economic ties and the deepening ofintegration processes. For Central Asian countries, the interstate water use andeconomic development of each of them depend on the specifics of regionalcooperation.The issues of water use in the basins of transboundary rivers are similar forCentral Asian countries and this makes it possible to develop uniformapproaches to the joint use of hydropower resources. A host of water reservoirsand irrigation, collecting and drainage canals were built in the basins oftransboundary rivers. The degree of flow control in the Syrdarya basin is 1.17,meaning that the volume of water reservoirs exceeds the dependable flow, andin the Amudarya basin this ratio is 0.78.CountryNumber ofreservoirsAmudarya basinSyrdarya basinStorage capacity DegreeStorage capacity(million m 3 )Number ofof flow(million m 3 )reservoirsGross Active controlGross ActiveKazakhstan - - - 21 10,075 8,867Kyrgyzstan - - - 8 20,519 14,450Tajikistan 12 25,287 13,970 4 4,413 2,813Turkmenistan 19 7,960 7,006 - - -Uzbekistan 32 15,364 11,588 26 6,352 5,511Degreeof flowcontrolTotal 63 48,611 32,564 0.78 59 41,359 3,1641 1.17Table 12.1.Degree of flowcontrol in theAmudarya andSyrdarya river basinsSource: Scientific andInformation Centreof the InterstateCoordination WaterCommission ofCentral Asia(SIC ICWC)Supporting coordinated and safe operation of reservoirs, long distance canalsand large pump stations is fundamental to ensuring sustainable water use inthe region. However, the situation surrounding the countries’ compliance withthe design and operational conditions of reservoir cascades in the basins oftransboundary rivers is rather tense. The insufficient level of integration, tradeand other economic relationships in the region, the lack of agreements withrespect to water and energy issues, and a drastic increase in prices of fuel andfoodstuffs imported from neighbouring countries are the main reasons whyCentral Asian countries expand their use of water resources for energy andirrigation purposes.However, the construction of new hydropower reservoirs, flow controlstructures, long-distance canals and irrigation systems often violates theprinciples and environmental limits for the use of basins and transboundaryflows, disregards the interrelationship of available water resources with theiruse in the short to long term and gives no importance to notifying theneighbouring states about building facilities on a transboundary river. Thus,218 EDB Eurasian Integration Yearbook 2012