Water Unites

Within the «Transboundary Water Management in Central Asia Program», the Deutsche
Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has one component that focuses
especially on small transboundary rivers that are particularly suited to applying the basic
principles of river basin management. In the Isfara and Khodzhabakirgan Basins shared
by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, the programme has been supporting both countries in
joint transboundary river basin planning and management. A framework agreement
on the establishment of a Joint Water Commission to coordinate and administrate these
river basins has been drafted. Both countries collect, store and operate their data on
these rivers in a compatible way. 3
Improving data availability and exchange
One major obstacle for regional water cooperation is the lack of reliable data. This concerns,
on the one hand, missing monitoring and measuring data due to the closure or
lack of measurement points, especially in the areas of water formation. On the other
hand, it refers to the absence of a region-wide accepted system of data exchange. Sharing
data and planning are considered first steps in building up trust and initiating cooperation
among riparian states, so many donors are active in this sphere.
Since 2003, the Central Asia Regional Water Information Base (CAREWIB),
which is financed mainly by SDC and implemented by SIC ICWC, in cooperation with
UNECE and GRID Arendal, has maintained an Internet portal with information and
databases on water and the environment in Central Asia, including up-to-date flow data.
The World Bank, in the framework of its regional «Central Asia Energy-Water Development
Program» (CAEWDP), is supporting hydrometeorology services in Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan, as well as their regional coordination. One main component of the German
«Berlin Process» is the regional research network «Central Asian Water» (CAWa), coordinated
by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) in close cooperation with
the Central Asian Institute of Applied Geosciences (CAIAG) in Bishkek. Its objective is
to contribute to a sound scientific and reliable regional data base for the development of
sustainable water management strategies by, among other things, installing hydrometeorological
stations and conducting analysis of the impacts of climate change. 4
3 See www.waterca.org.
4 See http://www.cawater-info.net, http://go.worldbank.org/OG3ADWOAK0, http://www.cawa-project.net/.
60 Improving data availability and exchange