Dushanbe, Tajikistan 29th August 2003

P R E S S    R E L E A S E

IWMI research offers hope for the Aral Sea
New perspectives on Central Asia's growing water crisis

Ground breaking research led by The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in partnership with its regional and local collaborators, shows that if some of the saline, rice- producing areas in Central Asia's Syr-Darya Basin are taken out of production, it would be possible to double the flow of water into the dying Aral Sea.

In 1999-2000 a total of 2.8km of water reached the Aral Sea, while 21.57 km was withdrawn. Kazakstan diverted 8.2 km of this for agricultural production. Recent research by IWMI reveals that the net cost of taking out 132,000 hectares of arable land from production would be less than US$30 million, yet in terms of ecological value, the benefits for the future of the Aral Sea would be far higher. However, the IWMI study also cautioned that if water management improvements are made upstream, savings might be used for downstream irrigators and not for the Aral Sea. Studies also show that the Aral Sea will disappear by the year 2020 if nothing is done to reverse its decline.

For the past three years, IWMI researchers have been carrying out studies in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins, spanning five countries across Central Asia. The research has been aimed at addressing the region's growing water crisis by improving approaches to water management amongst water policy makers and users at local, national and regional levels.

"Our aim is to find ways of producing more food with less water in a sustainable way that is beneficial to the environment", explains Mehmood ul Hassan, IWMI Researcher. "Increasing areas under the production of water- intensive crops such as cotton, and over-irrigation of such crops cause overflows to the drainage system, which ultimately ends up in the downstream areas of the basins. This leads to a wide range of environmental problems including climate change, shortened growing seasons and increased salinity in downstream agricultural lands. A policy of "zero drainage" would need to be enforced in the upper catchments if Central Asia is to sustain the environment. IWMI's research highlights the need for an integrated approach to water management in the region,. This involves a commitment to reforms in the water management sector combined with innovative agricultural practices ".

Water Savings

Over a one year period, IWMI scientists monitored the results of previous World Bank-sponsored water savings competitions organized amongst 11 water management organizations, 7 Water Users Associations, 18 collective farms - kolkhozes, joint stock companies, and 25 private farms, located in the head, middle and lower reaches of the Syr Darya river basin. Findings from the competition have helped researchers create an invaluable database that has provided best practices in water saving methodologies which can be adopted throughout the region and in other water-scarce river basins.

Institutional Reforms

In the Ferghana valley, shared between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, IWMI and its regional partners have provided training to local and regional water stakeholders in designing and establishing hydro-boundary based institutions for water management. Several other activities are being piloted, which aim at making the region's water resources management more efficient,
transparent, equitable, reliable and responsive to users needs, These practices have the potential for up-scaling to the entire Central Asian region .

Crop research

For more information, contact :
Apartment No 123, Home No: 6,
Murtazaeva Street,
Tashkent 700000
Uzbekistan.

Tel : +998-71-1370445
Fax: + 998-71-1370317
E-mail : m.hassan@cgiar.org