Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Kyrgyz reporter Yevgeniy Denisenko has said Uzbekistan was concerned about the possible environmental impact of Kyrgyz and Tajik hydroelectric power stations on the region. He said it was time for Central Asian countries to stop debating about their water issues and start doing something together. The following is an excerpt from Yevgeniy Denisenko’s article entitled "Bridge under rough waters" and published by the Kyrgyz newspaper Vecherniy Bishkek on 26 December:

The leap year is nearing completion; this kind of year, as many believe, is always full of unpleasant things. But will they be fewer in the coming year 2009? The answer is still in the air. But it is even now clear that unpleasant things will be more than enough [in 2009]. And one of the most acute issues for our region is water, or, to be more precise, the water and energy resources of Central Asia. The energy resources that are an objective factor, which unites all of us, unfortunately have increasingly started to play a disuniting role. Every compromise achieved in this field turns out to be the beginning of new showdowns.

During the latest summits of the CIS and EurAsEC (Eurasian Economic Community) countries in the Kyrgyz capital, the Central Asia presidents have agreed to tackle water and energy problems in the region.

Uzbekistan promised to find reserves to export additional 150m cu.m. of natural gas to Kyrgyzstan in the first quarter of 2009, Kazakhstan promised to supply 160,000 t of coal and 35,000 t of fuel oil. Our country, in turn, will allocate the two countries 600m kWh in the summer, as well as give up the practice of excessively releasing water that is accumulated for irrigation needs of the entire region at [Kyrgyzstans] Toktogul water reservoir. The Bishkek thermal power station is believed to help to achieve this. During the winter, thanks to the energy resources of the two closest neighbours, it will take on itself the increased load of electricity supplies for the entire north of the country.

All these tactical moves are firmly linked with strategic tasks of constructing new major hydroelectric facilities in Central Asia in the future such as the Roghun hydroelectric power station in Tajikistan and Kambar-Ata in Kyrgyzstan. The power stations are designed to tackle hydroelectricity problems of not only the two countries, but of the whole region.

Russia also expressed its readiness to help in the resolving the problem; during Kyrgyz Prime Minister Igor Chudinov’s recent meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow, Russia promised to allocate 1.7bn dollars to implement major hydroelectricity projects in Kyrgyzstan.

Can one now breathe a sigh of relief? Alas... [ellipsis as published] Uzbekistan has again announced its special attitude to the construction of hydroelectric stations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Its position on this issue was voiced in the media by the Uzbek deputy minister of agriculture and water management, Shavkat Hamroyev, not a long time ago. And now two high-profile representatives of official Tashkent have returned to this painful problem. The first one was [acting] chairman of the Uzbek environmental protection committee, Boriy Alixonov, and the second - Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov.

If there is a wish, any project can be bogged down in bureaucratic red tape. But it is high time to take actions and not discussions. It is time to put objective necessity and economic expediency above all, and not political and any other ambitions. Getting caught in an endless loop of mutual reproaches is something that residents of Central Asia need in the least.

One of such reproaches in the address of Kyrgyzstan one can hear is that the Toktogul hydroelectric power station had been initially designed for irrigation. However, now it is used for energy generation. And an increase in the use of water during winter causes floods in border areas of neighbouring countries. In turn, during the summer, it is the other way round; there is a shortage of irrigation water for farming needs.

Is all this is taking place of good life? It is becoming increasing difficult for Kyrgyzstan alone to run Toktogul after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nobody is hurrying to come to our aid. In turn, prices for gas and coal which we are forced to import from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are constantly increasing and forcing us to increase the generation of domestic electricity. All this leads to forced releases of water during winter and shortages of water at Toktogul during summer.

Now Kyrgyzstan is forced to introduce electricity rationing in the country.

Kyrgyzstan could get additional funds to buy the same gas and coal if water was a commodity. Kyrgyzstan is the top second country in the CIS in terms of water reserves. However, the neighbouring countries do not like the idea of paying for a resource which they traditionally get free of charge. The barter option does not suit them either. In turn, Uzbekistan is in favour of giving transborder status to the River Syr Darya, which means the rivers water should be used free of charge by all the countries. But in this case, what one gets is a vicious circle.

We would not like to further continue the protracted discussion. It is not out of place to recall that there is always a way out of any situation; and this is the way of reasonable compromises and mutual concessions. Where there is a will there is a way.

But, unfortunately, there are difficulties in this field. Confirmation of this is the zero result (if one does not take into account certain agreements reached on the bilateral basis) of the work of the quadripartite intergovernmental commission for water and energy resources in 2008.

If they cannot reach an agreement at the intergovernmental level, maybe then the prime ministers and the presidents themselves should take the initiative?

The aforementioned Bishkek summit of the five countries has set a precedent [for dealing with this issue]. But agreements reached then are of a tactical nature, which are designed for upcoming several months. It is not out of place to take care about the future. So far it has not yet turned into a bitter reality.