DUSHANBE, February 26, 2014, Asia-Plus – The working group on basin planning for the Isfara River basin with members representing water management, environmental protection, sanitary, epidemiological, economic agencies and representatives of local administration and water users met in Khujand on February 26 for training on economic and financial instruments in basin planning, according to press release issued by the Delegation of the European Union to Tajikistan.
Participants of training reportedly discussed the issues regarding effective use of water resources of selected basin in framework of the fourth training on stages of basin planning and considered the project of the Isfara River Basin Plan. The training on basin planning is conducted in the framework of “Water Management and Basin Organizations in Central Asia (WMBOCA)” project funded by the European Union and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Trans-boundary Water Management in Central Asia Program.
For Central Asian region introduction and implementation of basin planning is a crucial subject as water management on every level is complicated by raising need in water resources and symptoms of climate change influence. Since 2012 the series of introductory trainings on basin planning are held in an attempt to support capacity building of stakeholders in the Isfara River basin.
Trainings cover different aspects of basin planning: from formation of basin problem lists that need improvement up to attraction of all stakeholders to the process of planning. The fourth training as well covered all the stages of basin planning- from stage of initiation of planning, where the government role in water management and necessary resources for further development of plan are considered to the last stage of defining the structure of plan. Thus, participants learned the theoretical basis of the basin planning, and in interactive manner practiced the basin planning process with support of experts.
Moreover, during this training the project of the Isfara River Basin Plan was introduced and discussed.
The project has been developed by the local experts with priority consideration of international experience in basin planning. The project covered analysis and assessment of current and perspective situation of the basin, priority problems lists, long-term vision of basin water resources, measures for implementation and resources of financing these measures. Participants gave their comments and suggestions to the project of the document. Considering all the discussion during the training, the project will be finalized into the actual Basin Plan and be passed to relevant water management agency for further implementation.
“Water Management and Basin Organizations in Central Asia (WMBOCA)” is funded by the European Union and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH acting in partnership with the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC). Budget of WMBOCA consists of approximately €2 million provided by the European Union and approximately €0.5 million provided by the German Federal Foreign office.
