The Syr Darya River Basin Upstream Downstream Disputes

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Case Description

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Geolocation:	40° 40' 30.6128", 70° 37' 55.6805"
Total Population	1818,000,000 millionmillion
Total Area	444,000444,000 km² 171,428.4 mi² km2
Climate Descriptors	Dry-winter
Predominent Land Use Descriptors	agricultural- cropland and pasture, industrial use
Important Uses of Water	Agriculture or Irrigation, Domestic/Urban Supply, Hydropower Generation

Summary

The Syr Darya River (SDR) basin flows through four riparian countries: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the four republics have been facing challenges due to various economic and political reasons. The main challenges are related to the need for water in agriculture for the countries downstream, and for hydro-electric power production for the countries upstream. The four riparians have two choices to address these challenges. One option is to fight with each other. The second and recommended option is to engage in a collaborative approach and search for a solution that can satisfy all four countries and effectively bring mutual benefits. Forming a mutual gains management scheme is the utmost challenge to these countries.

Analysis, Synthesis, and Insight

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ASI:A Way Forward: Applying the Water Diplomacy Framework

A number of opportunities exist to improve the situation in this basin. Inclusion of all relevant stakeholders, the design and implementation of joint-fact finding, exploration of mutual gains (rather than zero-sum) negotiation, and opportunities to create additional value by exploring how to expand benefits from water through addressing irrigation inefficiencies in the basin are explored here.(read the full article... )

Contributed by: Jungwoo Chun (last edit: 14 May 2014)