Water Institutional Reforms in Kyrgyzstan - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 87

divisions: The Water Resources and Water Use Department is responsible for the allocation
and distribution of water resources. The Irrigation Systems Maintenance Department is in
charge of the physical maintenance of the infrastructure. The Department of Economics,
Finance, and Registration controls the distribution of financial resources.
The staff in the central apparatus comprises 47 people. 95 In addition to their executive
functions, the high ranking officials of the DepVodKhoz also participate in policy formulation
and lawmaking by developing draft proposals and expert assessments (Hasan et al. 2004: 12).
Formally, it is the main agency for water policy formulation. While other agencies are involved
in regulation tasks (see below), there are no legal participation mechanisms for these in policy
formulation and reviewing (Tursunaliev 2002). Special project management departments for
bigger donor projects are affiliated with the DepVodKhoz , as is the case with the Project Im
plementation Unit for the World Bank On farm Irrigation Project ( Otdel Upravlenii Proekta
'Reabilitatsija Irrigatsionnykh System', OUP RIS ). In the context of this project, WUA support
departments at central, province, and district level have been established, funded and staffed by
the World Bank but are legally part of the water administration (see Figure 9).
The Irrigation Institute ( Institut Irrigatsii ) is attached to the DepVodKhoz . It was founded in
1953 as part of the National Academy of Sciences; later, it became part of the MinVodKhoz and
subsequently the DepVodKhoz . Its main task is technical research and expertise on water distri
bution and irrigation technology. It employs between 50 and 60 people, the number varies
depending on ongoing projects. Besides state subsidies, the institute receives most of its fund
ing through international projects, e.g. with the FAO, EU TACIS, and USAID. 96
The DepVodKhoz has branches at provincial and district level which are upward accounta
ble to it (see Figure 9): the OblVodKhoz ( Oblastnoe upravlenie vodnogo khozyajstva i melioratsii, Prov
ince Water Administration) in the seven oblasts (provinces) and the RaiVodKhoz ( Raionnoe uprav
lenie vodnogo khozyajstva i melioratsii , District Water Administration) in the 40 raions (districts). The
OblVodKhozes have been renamed in Basin Water Management Departments ( Bassejnovoe uprav
lenie vodnogo khozyajstva ) in 1997. This name is not used, however, and I will hence also use the
common term OblVodKhoz (see for details chapter 6.3.3.1).
The task of the OblVodKhoz is mainly the supervision and control of the RaiVodKhoz .
Concerning direct water distribution and system maintenance, the OblVodKhoz is responsible
for all channels crossing more than one raion, as well as for bigger rehabilitation projects and
for coordination with neighboring OblVodKhozes at channels crossing the territory of more
than one Oblast. The OblVodKhoz aggregates data from water users, WUAs, and RaiVodKhozes
and each year develops a plan for water usage, which must be approved by the DepVodKhoz
based on the limits defined according to national and international agreements. 97
The main implementation agency is the RaiVodKhoz . It is the one that at least in theory
has direct and formal contracts with individual and collective water users on water delivery.
It is in charge of the secondary channels delivering water to the tertiary 'on farm' chan
nels 98 , physical maintenance of the systems, operation of pumping stations, and water distribu
tion to the users (individuals, cooperative farms, WUAs, and aiyl okmotu ). The staff number of
RaiVodKhozes is relatively high compared to the OblVodKhozes due to the great amount of prac
95 Author's interview with a senior official of the DepVodKhoz , Bishkek, 09/11/2003.
96 Author's interview with the director of the Institut Irrigatsii , Bishkek, 09/13/2004. See also the institute's website at
http://www.water.kg/kniiir/KNIR.htm.
97 Author's interview with a senior official of the DepVodKoz , Bishkek, 09/11/2003; with the director of the
OblVodKhoz Osh, Osh, 09/22/2003.
98 The term 'on-farm channel' is generally used for those channels that were on the territory of one FSK. Today they
are in fact inter-farm channels between the individual farmers.