TAJIKISTAN'S WATER PROBLEMS HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT ON HEALTH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 002177

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EAID EAGR ENV TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN'S WATER PROBLEMS HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT ON HEALTH
AND THE ECONOMY

REF: DUSHANBE 1717

DUSHANBE 00002177 001.2 OF 002



1. SUMMARY: Nowhere is the theme of this year's United
Nations' Human Development Report entitled "Beyond Scarcity:
Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis" more fitting than in
Tajikistan. Despite an abundance of water in Tajikistan's many
rivers and enormous hydroelectric potential, Tajikistan still
suffers from serious health problems and economic
under-development because it has been unable to properly utilize
and manage its water resources. USAID's Water User's
Association program successfully empowered farmers on a micro
level to effectively manage water resources and with the
implementation of a new Water Users Association law now in
place, this model can be replicated throughout Tajikistan. END
SUMMARY.


2. Tajikistan ranks 122 out of 177 countries on the UN's Human
Development Index. According to the United Nations, only 59
percent of the Tajik population has access to a centralized
water supply. Of the 699 centralized water systems in
Tajikistan, 113 are broken and 358 do not provide sanitary
water. Only 23 percent of the urban population has access to a
sewer system, and only five percent in rural areas. Since the
fall of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan's infrastructure has
crumbled. Current public spending on managing water resources
amounts to only six to seven percent of public spending in 1990.
The lack of a water supply and sanitation system directly
contributes to Tajikistan's health problems; for example,
UNICEF's office in Tajikistan directly links a major cause of
infant death-diarrhea--to unsanitary water conditions. Poor
water management also has an economic impact. Sultan Rahimov,
Acting Chair of the Aral Sea Rescue Foundation, estimates that
Tajikistan loses out on $1.7 billion each year in mismanagement
of water resources, ineffective consumption, and a lack of
effective cooperation with its regional neighbors.


3. On November 30 the government approved a $997 million
Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water proposal to rehabilitate
water and sanitation systems between 2007 to 2020 and provide
clean drinking water to the country. The proposal outlines that
15 percent would be funded by the government, 10 percent from
local budgets, five percent from private industry and
anticipates that 70 percent of the $997 million from investors,
primarily meaning international organizations. The ministry
anticipates the government will formally accept the proposal
soon. (COMMENT: It is unclear what the status of this project
will be given the recent appointment of a new Minister of Water.
END COMMENT.)

USAID WATER USERS ASSOCIATION: AN EXAMPLE OF GOOD MANAGEMENT


4. USAID's successful Water Users Association (WUA) project has
been an effective example of how local communities can take
control of their local water resources. WUA programs are
instrumental in assisting farmers to rehabilitate their drinking
water and irrigation supply system. The WUA program's reach
extends beyond mere technical assistance and creates truly
sustainable community groups responsible for managing their own
water resources and utilities-everything from establishing
prices to applying for infrastructure rehabilitation loans.
Through the WUA program, farmers learn tangible and transferable
skills to manage their future. WUA taught farmers how to
operate computers and created work spaces for local associations
to meet. WUA members are trained in financial management and
conflict management. The program is a mechanism that teaches
transparent and democratic ways to solve a problem.


5. In addition to implementing the WUA program, USAID's
partner, Winrock International, also provided legislative advice
to the government and successfully lobbied for Tajikistan's
first Water Users Association Law, passed this month. When the
law is formally enacted, it will provide a legal operational
environment for WUAs. Before the WUA law, farmers did not have
the official right to organize or collect money from water users
to pay water utility bills. (NOTE: Most people in Tajikistan do
not pay their water utility fees, simply ignoring the nominal
fee. END NOTE.) This law provides a legal framework that
delegates control to WUAs to solve problems, rather than solely
relying on sometimes ineffective local Ministry of Land

DUSHANBE 00002177 002.2 OF 002


Reclamation and Water chapters. It also gives power to the WUAs
to organize equitable water usage. The law defines
democratically principled parameters under which the WUAs should
operate.


6. COMMENT: Providing economic development assistance and
laying the groundwork for good healthcare in Tajikistan are
goals for the U.S. mission in Tajikistan. Water problems affect
a range of sectors, from agriculture to construction to food
processing. Rehabilitating failed water infrastructure and
assisting the government on water management remain areas where
the U.S. government can become engaged. Despite the program's
success, the program faces budget cuts next year. We will
monitor the existing WUAs and implementation of the new WUA law
to see whether the advances achieved to date hold firm. The
WUA's methodology of incorporating local governance improvements
into development work should prove valuable in other sectors
besides infrastructure. END COMMENT.
JACOBSON