Integrated Rural Development Project/ TRIGGER hosted the Study tour to Hennef, Germany for representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan and the Water Resources Management of the Zarafshon Valley. The study tour program was draw up of trainings, case studies and excursions.
The training was conducted by DWA German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste office in Hennef, Germany. The training with the topic “The German Water Sector” enabled the Ministries’ representatives learn experience of German colleagues with the focus on river basin management. Apart from indoor studies, three visits to water association, the regulator, and the operator were arranged: 1) The Regional Catchment Management Association “Erftverband”, www.dwa.de; 2) Open Pit Mining of Hambach, www.dwa.de; and 3) Wahnbach Drinking Water Reservoir.
Participants learned the best practices of the German water sector structure, the administrative setup, basic principles of the river basin management and visions for living rivers. Taking into account the situation with torrential rains with disastrous consequences in Tajikistan caused by floods, landslides and mudflows in the current year, the study tour program also covered: spatial planning for water protection measures; flood risk management according to European directives; city and urban rainwater management; and legal frame, the role of technical standards and its monitoring in the field of water and soil quality, dam security, hydropower, and dikes.
Mr. Afroz Azizov, Deputy Head of Department of Water Resources of the Zarafshon Basin said: “We received a lot of information on German water sector, which quite differs from Tajik. In addition to a rich exchange of information, there was a very interesting excursion to Wahnbach Drinking Water Reservoir, where we saw a clear demonstration of the Reservoir with a gallery of interactive information. Now we want to replicate it here, in our River Basin Organization.”
Integrated Rural Development Project/TRIGGER will continue supporting relevant ministries in building staff capacity in order to contribute to the sustainable management and protection of water and land resources in Tajikistan.
The Integrated Rural Development Project (IRDP)/ GIZ “Towards Rural Inclusive Growth and Economic Resilience (TRIGGER)” is a joint project of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to boost the added value of agricultural production in Tajikistan.
