Water Productivity in the Syr-Darya River Basin

Abstract

"This report analyses water productivity and water-saving initiatives in the Syr-Darya river basin (SRB) of Central Asia. The report presents institutional and political aspects of water management in the basin - particularly a brief description of pre- and post-soviet developments in water management. Water allocation elements principles for different hierarchical levels in the basin are also discussed. The assessment of the performance of irrigation in SRB is presented as an analysis of the water-saving competition, funded by the World Bank (from 1999 to 2000). The competition itself is no longer operational, but the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Scientific Information Center of the Interstate Commission on Water Coordination (SIC) based in Tashkent are funding the collection of data on water use. Water delivery, crop yields (cotton, wheat and rice) and water productivity were used as major indicators of performance for the irrigation system of the basin. The analysis was done for different levels of water use and management - farm, irrigation-system and basin levels were studied. The study was conducted for the head, middle and tail reaches of the basin. This analysis can be used by water managers, policymakers and potential donors as a tool for identifying the hierarchical levels and areas of the basin, where water management needs to be improved and water conservation is a possible solution for the existing water-related environmental problems."