74th regular meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia

Friday October 26th, 2018 Posted in Uncategorized

On August 22, 2018, the 74th regular meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia (ICWC) was held in the city of Turkmenbashi.

The meeting was chaired by ICWC member from Turkmenistan Mr. M.Bayramdurdyev, with participation of other ICWC members – Mr. Y.N.Nysanbayev from of Kazakhstan, Mr. S.N.Rakhimzoda from Tajikistan, and Mr.Sh.R.Khamraev from Uzbekistan. The event was attendant by the heads of executive bodies (BWO Amudarya, BWO Syrdarya, SIC ICWC, and Secretariat), representatives of EC IFAS, head of the Executive Board of IFAS in Kazakhstan, and invited persons.

The following items were included in the agenda:

1. Fulfillment of water withdrawal limits and operation regimes of reservoir cascade in Amudarya and Syrdarya river basins over the growing season 2018.
2. Draft Agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan on the Information and Analytical Support of Water Management, Use, and Protection in the Aral Sea Basin and the Arrangement of Interstate Exchange of Information.
3. Agenda and venue of the next 75th regular ICWC meeting.

In addition, supplementary items were included in the agenda:

4. Preparation of ASBP-4 and the role of ICWC in this process.
5. Presentation of representative of Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan on the “Awaza” tourist zone.
6. Presentation of Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia on implementation of “Smart Waters” Project and its interim results.

Appropriate decisions were made on all items of the agenda.

Particularly, it was mentioned that there was a sharp difference in the allocation of water shortage. For instance, water users in the lower reaches of Amudarya river received 87-92% of the limit, whereas water users in the lower reaches received only 57-63%. In the Syrdarya basin, water content remained within the norm.

The meeting is held in the lead-up to the Summit of International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. The heads of Central Asian states will gather after a 9-year break to take stock of activities over the last 25 years and define future steps.

The next 75th regular ICWC meeting is planned to be held in the Republic of Tajikistan.