Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- An international high-level conference opened today in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to discuss ways for strengthening transboundary water cooperation in Central Asia and the role of international water law in finding long-term sustainable solutions for water management in this subregion. The conference is being organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Kazakhstan.

Efficient and sustainable management of water resources and related energy issues in the five countries of Central Asia — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan— remains highly important for political, economic and environmental cooperation in this subregion and beyond. The most challenging situation with the management of transboundary water resources has emerged in the basins of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers, the largest rivers in Central Asia, which flow into the Aral Sea. Implementation of large-scale plans for the development of hydropower in the upper reaches of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya River basins is likely to further aggravate relations between the upstream and downstream countries regarding the types and regimes of water use, if no balance of interests, acceptable to all States, is found. Moreover, an increase in the river flow fluctuations and expected decrease in river flow in the Aral Sea Basin caused by climate change, along with the growing demands for water, will probably exacerbate the situation of water allocation in the Central Asian subregion. In addition, Afghanistan is likely to increase its use of water in tributaries to the Amu Darya River, UNECE said.

UNECE assists Central Asian countries in improving their institutional and legal frameworks for transboundary water cooperation and enhancing integrated water resources management at national and transboundary levels. Being a custodian of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) — the only international framework convention for transboundary water management in force — the UNECE pays specific attention to the promotion of international water law in Central Asia. UNECE facilitates dialogue, exchange of experience and good practice on the platform of the Water Convention, which has been the basis for many bilateral and multilateral transboundary water agreements across the UNECE region.

Opening the conference, Andrey Vasilyev, UNECE Deputy Executive Secretary, noted: “Whichever solutions for water resources management are to be reached by Central Asian States, they have to be based on international law, of which the UNECE Water Convention is part and parcel. The Water Convention enshrines a balanced approach to the obligations of riparians, based on equality and reciprocity. It does not offer ready-made solutions to specific problems. However, its implementation ensures the continuous cooperation of States under common legal frameworks, towards agreed objectives, and with support from the Convention’s institutional mechanisms. Such cooperation ultimately leads to finding solutions to specific problems at the local, national and transboundary levels”.

The international high-level conference will be followed by a workshop on the Protocol on Water and Health (26–27 October 2011). This Protocol aims to protect human health and well-being by better water management, including the protection of water ecosystems, and by preventing, controlling and reducing water-related diseases. It is the first international agreement of its kind adopted specifically to attain an adequate supply of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation for everyone, and effectively protect water used as a source of drinking water.

The meetings are being organized in the framework of the “Regional Dialogue and Cooperation on Water Resources Management in Central Asia” programme, financed by the Government of Germany through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the Berlin Water Process. Organizational support to the meetings is provided by the Executive Board of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea in the Republic of Kazakhstan.