Of transboundary basins, integrated water resources management (IWRM) and second best solutions: the case of groundwater banking in Central Asia
Akmal KarimovMark GiordanoInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo 2075, Sri LankaAditi MukherjiInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo 2075, Sri LankaV. BorisovThe Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Tashkent 100041, UzbekistanJamol DjumanovThe Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Tashkent 100041, Uzbekistan
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Abstract
This paper tells the story of trade-off between hydropower and irrigation and its implications for groundwater use in Syrdarya basin in Central Asia. With the independence of the central Asian republics, this trade-off has become a transboundary issue. Efforts to coordinate bilateral action using integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles of basin-wide cooperation have not yet yielded the hoped for results. This paper shows that there could be a ‘second best’ option of solving at least part of this transboundary problem by ‘banking’ winter flows released for hydropower production in Kyrgyzstan in the underground aquifers of Uzbekistan's Fergana Valley and extracting it for irrigation in the summer months.
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