Commentator of Trend European Desk, Victoria Zhavoronkova
For a long time, Central Asia has been a relatively unified system, providing its peoples with good living conditions. This system has developed itself over the centuries and creates objective requirements for the integration process, for the mutually beneficial international division and cooperation of labor at various levels. Along with this, the majority of people in the region have a historic understanding, gained from tough experience, about the need to live in peace and cooperation. The territory provided them with water for centuries; it is located in the basins of the rivers of Central Asia, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, and has long been known as Mesopotamia. These major arteries formed a water system for the region.
However, the decisions that were taken during the USSR led to intervention in the natural process and the irrational use of water resources, dramatically altering the age-old system of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya drainage. All this caused a twentieth-century ecological catastrophe, linked with the drying of the Aral Sea, the consequences of which today are not just confined to the Aral Sea region and Central Asian countries, but which reach far beyond.
In a situation where several territories of the region are experiencing a chronic shortage of drinking and irrigation water, the sensible use of natural resources, especially water, is becoming one of the most pressing issues for the region. The water of the transboundary rivers is not only needed for the development of the power economy, but also for food security and providing adequate living conditions for people living on their shores. The Central Asian countries are seeking to rationally use the water resources.
For example, in Uzbekistan, dozens of projects on the water supply and accurate rationing of drinking and irrigation water are being carried out both with the national budget and foreign investment; it is already producing a tangible effect. For instance, the country has allocated over three billion soums (1000 UZS = 0.6650 USD) to introduce irrigation for growing fruit and vegetables. Considerable resources are directed at purchasing accurate water flow meters for homes, industrial and processing enterprises and private firms.
However, such approaches to the priceless gift of nature are not manifested everywhere. Irrational use of water may lead to the further deterioration of the ecological situation and the increasing pressure on water resources in the region. It is necessary to take into account possible consequences.
Irrational use of water resources in the region has already led to a river flow reduction to the estuaries of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. As a result, the Aral Sea - once the world's fourth largest lake - has become a series salty lakes, separated from one another. So it is not an exaggeration to say a ecological disaster of world significance has occurred in the region.
The water problem in Central Asia must be solved by all the countries, which are involved one way or another. Otherwise, this may further aggravate the situation of the water supply in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers and further aggravate the ecological catastrophe of the drying of the Aral Sea.
Also one cannot ignore the fact that this zone is of high significance. Experts, who can sensibly assess the environmental situation in the region, should be involved in implementing projects on the two rivers. The water and energy sector is important for the economies and living standards of the countries throughout Central Asia. Long-term stability in the region and prospects for future economic growth in all the Central Asian countries depend highly on the regional cooperation's success and a respect for all national strategic interests. In short, the distribution of water resources should not become a bone of contention among the countries and a cause of environmental disasters.
This article used materials provided by the Uzbek Embassy in Azerbaijan.