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Priorities and Targets
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Guaranteeing water for future generations Goal – elaborate main directions in water strategies in order to meet existing challenges and overcome destabilizing factors. Targets:
Expected output – identifying key proposals for the development of basin and national “Road-maps” for sustainable water development. Here, focus should be made on the development of a prospective vision tool (for example, the Aral Sea basin model - ASBmm, approaches and alternatives of prospective planning, use of the neutral platform of the Global Water Partnership, generalization of climate forecasts).
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Risk Management and Water Security Goal – ensuring sustainable water supply and use in light of potential natural and anthropogenic disasters (case-study of the Sayan-Shushensk HPS), preventing and rectifying the consequences of emergencies of natural or anthropogenic origin at hydraulic structures, especially those located along transboundary waterways, special attention to a risk of decreasing water availability due to construction of large infrastructure. Targets:
Expected output – jointly monitoring and assessing safety of hydraulic structures in the long-terms (especially, for structures located along transboundary waterways), creating public institutions as in Uzbekistan to monitor safety of hydraulic structures, organizing training for relevant staff. Drawing up and signing Regional (Basin) agreements on safety of large structures.
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International cooperation on the issues of transboundary water courses management on the basis of International Conventions Goal - To ensure an enabling environment for transboundary water cooperation on the basis of international law, in order to support peace, environmental sustainability and long-term socio-economic development. Targets:
Expected outputs: regional assessments of the role and relevance of the UN Watercourses Convention, the UNECE Water Convention, the ILC Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers, and the EU Water Framework Directive to support transboundary water cooperation and sound water management in the region; regional initiative to mobilize countries to consider joining the UN Watercourses Convention and the UNECE Water Convention set up; strengthened regional and basin organizations. Special attention should be paid to developing awareness and understanding among key stakeholders of IWL principles and instruments, as the basis for regional cooperation, as well as to stressing and further exploring the role of cooperation tools, such as training at regional level; regional information systems, implementation of automation systems, etc.).
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Adoption of innovations in agrarian sector in order to achieve food security Goal – ensuring food security through the effective and highly productive use of irrigated areas and the development of associated sectors (livestock farming, agricultural processing, etc.) Targets:
Expected outputs – directions for all-round development of the agricultural sector through irrigation, adaptation of innovative irrigation facilities to conditions of re-structuring, improvement of sustainability of water supply by managing water demand, orientation towards the achievement of potential water and land productivities while establishing extension services and ensuring sustainable agricultural ecosystems through return water management and utilization, low water-consuming crop varieties genesis, etc. Here, presentations should show as an achievement the examples of conserving irrigation capacity in Central Asia versus its neighboring regions (Eastern Europe and CIS countries have lost 11 Million hectares of irrigated area for production in the last 20 years).
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Integrated water resources management – a tool for balancing multiple uses of water Goal – disseminating experience in IWRM implementation using as a case-study the pilot projects on a regional scale in order to achieve equitable and equal water use. Targets:
Expected outputs – recommendations on dissemination of IWRM, agreement on the IWRM Toolbox uses, dissemination of IWRM at basin level, development of a financial mechanism for viability of IWRM and other tools.
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Climate change and conserving environmental capacity Goal – identify a scale of threats in context of climate change for the region as a whole, countries and zones and agree upon directions of adaptation to climate changes. Targets:
Expected outputs – develop understanding among wider circle of stakeholders and concerned institutions about the potential scale of impact and a need for planning in context of this challenge; program of actions to prepare future generation (schoolchildren, students) for survival under conditions of water scarcity.
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Sustainable water supply and sanitation Goal – create favorable conditions in the region to meet the Millennium Development Goals regarding access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Targets:
Expected outputs – All the countries in the region have adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration and have been working in this direction. However, none of the countries is able to assure that the targets will be met by 2015. For achieving the goals, the countries need substantial international investments. To this end, the effective monitoring and evaluation tools are needed to assess an actual impact of investments, as well as the integration of water supply and sanitation sector into IWRM.
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