Government of the Republic of Tajikistan

United Nations Development Programme

Sustainable Water Use and Management in Tajikistan

March 2005

Table of Contents

1. Situation Analysis

2. Strategy

Component 1. Improved Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation for Rural Poor

Component 2. Enhancing Governmental Organizations’ Water Management Capacities

Component 3. Promoting Sustainable Irrigation Practices and efficient resource management

Component 4. Small Grants supported interventions

3. Budget and Results and Resources Framework

4. Management Arrangements

5. Risks and Assumptions

6. Monitoring and Evaluation

7. Legal Context

Annexes

1. Situation Analysis

Improving access to water for agriculture, for power generation and for safe drinking in Central Asia is arguably the most important topic for active cooperation among the five former Soviet states, but it also is fraught with challenges. Most of the underlying water management problems that led to the ecological and social crisis associated with the shrinking Aral Sea have yet to be addressed.

Improving access to clean water and sustainable management of hydrological resources is central to the improvement of development prospects in Tajikistan as water affects almost all spheres of life, from public health to energy, industry and the environment. It is estimated that only 49% of the overall population of Tajikistan has access to known safe and clean water supplies. In rural areas, this percentage drops dramatically and has direct consequences on public health:

Tajikistan possesses unique water resources. With 93% of its territory covered by mountains, Tajikistan contributes more water to the Aral Sea Basin than all of other Central Asian countries combined. The area of glaciers (8% of the country) exceeds that of agricultural croplands (7%).Among CIS countries, Tajikistan is second (after Russia) in terms of volume of water resources; and with a population of only 6.5 million, Tajikistan’s annual water production of 13,000 cubic meters of water per person per year is among the highest in the world. Since the vast majority of water in Tajikistan originates inside the country, Tajikistan is less affected by many of the problems that typically face downstream countries, such as industrial pollution, mineralization and higher salinity levels from upstream neighbors.

With its predominantly agricultural base, 84% of the water in Tajikistan goes to the fields, while 8.5% of consumption is accounted for by drinking water and communal services, 4.5% by industry and 3% by other uses, such as fisheries. With its vast water resources, access to piped water was never 100% in Tajikistan. The mountainous topography of the country presents major physical challenges to extending the water supply network. According to UNICEF, 57% of the population (3.7) million people) is covered at present, including 93% of the urban population and only 47% of the rural population. Only 10% (or 650,000 people) use spring water, 3.7% (235,000) use river water, and nearly 25% (1.52 million) use water from gorges, canals, irrigation ditches or pools. Access to piped water does not always mean access to safe drinking water. The case of Dushanbe is illustrative: 16% of supplies into the Dushanbe water system are diverted directly from the river into local distribution networks without any treatment.

It is estimated that 65% of the national supply system – water mains and distribution nets – is dilapidated, but still functioning while a third of the system has completely broken down. Inefficient patterns of usage combined with power shortages mean that water supply is rationed in many areas of the country with water running for only a few hours a day in these areas.

Lack of water is a particular burden for schools and other public institutions. Evaluation of school sanitation and hygiene projects implemented 600 schools in Khatlon and Sughd oblasts showed that more than 45% of schools had no access to safe drinking water. Another study suggests that lack of safe drinking water is an important factor for 25% of students who failed to attend or dropped out of school.

Water-borne diarrheal diseases are endemic in rural areas of Tajikistan. It is estimated that only about 2% of the overall rural population has access to centralized sewer systems. The most recently produced figures tied to official testing show that in the Khatlon Region of Tajikistan:

-47.3% of the water is chemically contaminated;

-54.7% of samples were improper for human use from bacterial contamination;

-Dysentery and Typhoid outbreaks are on the rise.

Tajikistan has 851,000 hectares of arable cropland, from this 720,000 hectares are irrigated, and these generate 80% of the nation’s total agricultural product. Agriculture is a key component in Tajikistan’s economy in terms of employment, exports and potential for rural poverty alleviation: the sector employs 65% of the labor force, and generates 11% of export revenues, mostly from cotton.

Much of the population is directly or indirectly dependent on irrigation and drainage systems for food production: rehabilitation of these systems will thus play a crucial role in efforts to redress Tajikistan’s food deficit. Since 1991, financing for the irrigation and drainage system has plummeted from around $72 million to a reported $6.5 million in 2002. Over the same period, about 130,000 hectares – more than a sixth of all irrigated land – have ceased receiving water. Considering that 80% of the agricultural product comes from irrigation, this contraction in the area to which water is actually delivered, or sown area, represents lost earnings of 16% in the agricultural sector, and over 4% in GDP.

Maintaining technology-intensive systems is proving unsustainable as utility tariffs rise and the skills gap persists. One of the main reasons for such a rapid decrease in sown irrigated land is Tajikistan’s high dependence on pumping. Around 48% of the country’s irrigated land depends on pumping systems with high lift pumps. Many farmers find it hard to pay electricity tariffs for pumping. Given the planned significant increase of the electricity tariffs and slender profit margins of many farmers, it is hard to see how they will be able to meet these tariffs without corresponding increases in yields and farm revenues. Therefore, the preference for irrigation should be given to gravity irrigation schemes relying on river intake structures to divert flow into a gravity conveyance system.

Water losses are on the increase. The proportion of the water diverted from the river or other source that actually reaches the fields averages around 60% for most of the country. The predominance in the country of earth irrigation channels with high rates of silting, evaporation, and filtration, rather than lines or piped channels significantly reduces delivery efficiency. In the absence of funds to upgrade the channels, more water will need to be pumped to meet demand, but this will only contribute to the strain on dilapidated pumping systems and risk increasing tensions with downstream neighbors, especially in times of water shortages.

Water shortages result not only from weak service provision and infrastructural deficiencies, but also from wasteful patterns of usage. A serious constraint threatening to undermine any improvements in the water system in Tajikistan is the level of water consumption. The World Bank has estimated that water use in Dushanbe may be around ten times more than the amount in Western Europe. Other figures from the World Bank indicate that in cotton irrigation, twice as much water is used as really necessary, with Tajikistan using around 70% more water than Pakistan (a country hardly known for efficient irrigation). Excessive consumption increases the strain on system and institutions struggling to function at all, and let alone cope with world-beating consumption figures. An important means of changing consumption behavior is to increase public appreciation, awareness, financial accountability and to improve the management and ownership of water supply systems.

2. Strategy

The four components described below identify niche areas where UNDP and GTZ can make a significant contribution to improved water resources management and access to water in Tajikistan. Each of these components addresses key constraints to improve water governance both in Tajikistan and Central Asia. UNDP’s experience in the management of large-scale water projects in Tajikistan, its reputation for neutrality and its excellent global, regional and local track record in capacity building make UNDP uniquely suited to achieve significant in-roads in the water sector working at all levels. The competence and reputation of GTZ with respect to in-country consultation and capacity development in the water sector add to this. The use of “south-south” or horizontal linkages between Tajikistan and other developing countries will be favored to enhance the development impact of the programme. If solutions can be found in new technologies, much progress can also be accomplished by implanting low-tech, low-cost initiatives found in countries with similar socio-economic profiles.

Component 1. Improved Access to Drinking Water and Sanitation for Rural Poor

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on clean drinking water and sanitation is critical for Tajikistan as it is highly unlikely that the MDGs for infant and child mortality, school enrolment and attendance or disease control could be met without significant improvements in water and sanitation. There are many reasons for the poor state of Tajikistan’s water and sanitation services: lack of maintenance and/or destruction during the civil war, low levels of official budget allocation, difficulty in collecting user fees and low level tension over access to water sources in border communities. Institutional strengthening and reform are needed to maintain and operate systems, test water quality, raise awareness on health and sanitation, and introduce fee-paying mechanisms to facilitate long-term sustainability. As the Government notes in its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, the rural population has the priority for improved service.

Hygiene conditions in many rural settlements and villages of Tajikistan have progressively deteriorated since independence due to the collapse of existing water supply systems, through either a lack of proper maintenance, or destruction during the civil war. This has resulted in a lack of access to safe drinking water for many rural people, left with no alternative but to draw water from unsanitary canals and natural ditches, leading to numerous health problems, including the spread of waterborne diseases, and a disproportionate burden placed on women and children, often young girls, to fetch water over long distances.

There are three major options for improved access to safe water in rural areas with shared water resources: new central water systems based on borehole development and electric pumps, deep well hand pumps, and spring catchments. Central water systems (and, in certain areas, spring catchments) offer the best means of providing high quality water services to rural residents. In 2002, the Government approved the National Concept on Rational Use and Protection of Water Resources, which emphasises the need to reduce wastage and strengthen conservation of national water supplies. Authorities acknowledge the need to reform the financing of the water sector to bolster incentives for rational consumption and ensure that service provision is financially “self-supporting” while taking steps to cushion the impact of tariff reforms on low-income households through targeted subsidy programmes.

Objectives: Through this component the project will provide sustainable access to adequate and safe water and basic sanitation in rural areas with cross border river basins. The project will improve waste management and promote rational use of water resources. The overall objective of UNDP’s water access measures is to improve the living conditions of rural populations by supplying clean water and safe sanitation practices, thereby decreasing the occurrence of water-borne diseases with a high emphasis on sustainability mechanisms. Assistance will focus on approaches that emphasize community participation and local responsibility for operation and maintenance of rural water supply systems in selected areas. UNDP assumes that it is important to move away from the “emergency implementation” approach and begin to foster cooperative attitudes between the villages, their local governments, community groups, and other interested parties for sustainable development. There is a certain need for recovery programmes but it is now possible to have a lasting impact, especially through partnerships between civil society and local administrations.

Activities:

  1. Rehabilitation or construction of rural water supplies in border Jamoats with cross border river basins. The target areas will be selected based on a mapping of international support currently undertaken by the UN and GTZ;
  2. Development of local capacities of maintenance and sustainable management through cost recovery and training of local artisans

ii.Enhancing solid and liquid wastes management in border Jamoats with cross border river basins;

iii.Improving water management at central and local level. At the local level, the project will support the establishment of water user associations and partnership between local authorities, system owners, and end users to ensure rational use, maintenance and sustainability, women implication in water and infrastructure management and cost recovery. At the central level the project will work closely with the PRSP Monitoring Unit and with the MDG needs assessment undertaken by the Government with support from the UN to assess achievement of the water MDG and inform policy formulation on the water code and legislation on water user associations;

  1. Health and sanitation training and Public awareness campaigns will ensure that the water is properly utilized. Key partners will be local NGOs like Zarshedabonu, the Healthy Life Style Centers of the Ministry of Health, and UNICEF.
  2. Preparing the material for and inserting a special program of education on good practices of water management and sanitation in the elementary school.

Resource Requirements: The total cost of this component for the 2005-2007 period is $2,600,000. The project will rehabilitate water supplies and enable rational solid waste management in communities.

Component 2. Enhancing Governmental Organizations’ Water Management Capacities

Previously, all lines of communication for the ministries involved in water management ran directly to Moscow. Specialized agencies submitted reports and funding requests to the center, and there was little coordination among ministries at the regional or republic level. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, this command structure has effectively been decapitated, depriving it even of the centralist direction that Moscow once provided. Ministries in the republic today are faced with the challenge of coordinating their own policy on the basis of little prior experience. Given Tajikistan’s limited experience in coordinating complex water policy, the inherently multi-sectoral nature of water and the intimate and fragile relationship between water and the broader environment, it is not surprising that current institutional and legislative frameworks are struggling to meet the challenge.

The personnel base on which the water system depends has been weakened by independence, the civil war and economic transition. Many of the cadres who filled senior managerial and technical posts were Russian. Even before the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 skilled personnel had gradually been leaving Tajikistan. The lack of funds for recruiting and retaining highly qualified staff has had a severe negative impact on key agencies, both in weakening their professional culture and in hampering their performance in the field.

Opportunities for training and team-building are almost non-existent, leading to slow adoption of new technical and managerial approaches. Communication with regional offices is haphazard, with some ministries reporting that staff in the field is sometimes unaware of key policy changes. As a result of these personnel constraints, outmoded practices have persisted in spite of the clear need for efficiency-improving reforms.

A critical personnel issue concerns the highly specialized technical backgrounds of many professional in the water sector. Narrow scientific specialization comes at a price: there is a real shortage of leaders in the sector with a sound, holistic understanding of the overall water system. With irrigation programmes neglecting drainage, supply systems neglecting sanitation, and end-pipe solutions for industrial waste being favored over integrated treatment measure, the absence of integrated water policy and management has contributed to Tajikistan’s failure to halt some of the unsustainable and damaging practices of the previous era. A new generation of the policymakers capable of maintaining the high scientific standards of the current generation while also able to see the linkages between disparate water-related sectors and the externalities associated with water use will be essential if Tajikistan wants to achieve sustainable water usage for the long term.

Objective:Strengthen the capacity for strategic planning and sustainable development and management of

surface and groundwater resources. The upgrading of the management capability of the government in integrated land and water management and conservation will be the main purpose of this programme component. This capacity development will have two directions: (i) Support will be given to strategy and program development in water resources management; (ii) Maximum use will be made of the training institutions dealing with water issues like the Ministry of Melioration, Giprovodhoz’es, local water institutions etc. Skills development will include a number of field demonstrations; seminars; workshops etc; as well as actual implementation of proven land and water conservation techniques.

Activities:

  1. Improve coordination among the Ministries as well as the Agencies involved in the national water sector through regular meetings, seminars etc.;
  2. Promote the shift from single projects toward multi -sectoral programs combining Health, water and sanitation, nutrition and rural development to encourage Integrated Water Resources Management;
  3. Promote a long and medium term programming in water resources management through a long term Development framework of the water resources of Tajikistan (Resource Evaluation, Strategic approach, Institutional framework at national, provincial and local levels, Action plan and financial evaluation);
  4. Establish realistic management plans for operation and maintenance of the main and secondary infrastructure based on on-going government and donor supported studies and strategies about rehabilitation and/or system change of the main and secondary irrigation infrastructure.
  5. Initiate long term strategic and prospective studies to identify future constrains such as: The long term balance of water supply and demand; climate changes and glaciers retreating; country wide evaluation and cost estimate of rehabilitation of clean water supply and irrigation systems;
  6. Analyze the capacity of the water institutions and identify the capacity gaps and training needs;
  7. Develop the curriculum for the training of the personnel;
  8. Training-of-trainers course for Tajik Government’s specialists to create a core group that can assist with further training, outreach and analysis;
  9. Training of the personnel by the trainers.
  10. Identify the possible places of the site visits and organize site visits for the identified personnel;
  11. Publish materials for the further training of the personnel.

Resource Requirements. The total cost of this component for the 2005-2007 period is $1,700,000.