Water Institutional Reforms in Kyrgyzstan - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 104

allowed to give certain licenses to users, which is a globally practiced system to control and
regulate water consumption. The OblVodKhoz used to be allowed to distribute licenses for
water use up to 500,000 cubic meter. Licenses for bigger amounts had to be issued by the
DepVodKhoz . In 2001, the Law on Licenses was amended according to the demands of donors
and therewith the system of licenses for water use abolished (SPECA 2004: 58). 139 A senior
official at the DepVodKhoz did not know the reason for the abolishment of licenses. 140 This led
to a “legal vacuum” (SPECA 2004: 58) and even to less means for coordinating water demands
of different sectors:
“We do not know how to regulate them, whatever they want, they do (...). The DepVodKhoz used to make the
decision on water usage or the so-called licenses, they defined the limits. Now these licenses do not exist any
more, no limits. This is why everybody takes as much as he wants. A mess emerged because of the foreign
consultants. They have advised our government; we cannot” (senior official of the DepVodKhoz, Bishkek,
09/15/2004). 141
Problems arise in the control of hydropower sector, for example: The JSC Power Plants used
to receive licenses to which they had to adjust the mode of operation of the dams. Now there
is no regulation and coordination of the hydropower plants with general water management.
Besides the fragmentation, the status of the DepVodKhoz itself is perceived as problematic.
In the first few years after independence, a discrete Ministry of Water Management (MinVod
Khoz) existed. As long as FSKs existed, the MinVodKhoz stood in terms of significance even
above the Ministry of Agriculture. With the dissolution of the FSKs, such a huge ministry
seemed unnecessary. Simultaneously, international financial institutions pressed for a reduction
in the total number of ministries in order to reduce public expenditure. 142 So in December
1996, the Water Ministry was merged with the Ministry of Agriculture and became the Ministry
of Agricultural and Water Management and Processing Industries. 143 There it is the DepVod
Khoz that is in charge of the elaboration of policies and strategies. However, now it is criticized
that one agency, the DepVodKhoz , is in charge of water resource management in general but is
itself part of the Agricultural Ministry, which represents one of the primary water using sec
tors. This leads not only to possible conflicts with other sectors such as energy, fishery, etc.
that may feel disadvantaged as the DepVodKhoz lacks objectivity but also to legal contradictions
(i.e. management and control by same body) (Djailoobaev 2004: 73, 77; SPECA 2004: 46).
Consequently, the report of UN SPECA proposed to dissociate water management from the
Ministry of Agriculture in the context of a general reform of the organizational structure of
water management (SPECA 2002: 41f; SPECA 2004: 60). The new Water Code of 2005 ad
dresses this problem.
In order to overcome the fragmentation of competencies and the questionable subordina
tion of the DepVodKhoz to the Agricultural Ministry, the Water Code foresees the establish
ment of a National Council ( Natsionalnyi Sovet ) and a State Water Administration ( gosudarstven
naya vodnaya administratsiya ) in order to coordinate all activities and policies in water resource
management (see ch. 6.3.2.1 above). The National Council should be the main decision making
agency with the State Water Administration in charge of implementation. The State Water
139 Author's interview with a senior official of the DepVodKhoz , Bishkek, 09/11/2003.
140 Ibid.
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142 In total, about one third of all administrative bodies were abolished or reorganized (GoK n.d.: 42).
143 Author's interviews with a senior officials of the DepVodKhoz , Bishkek, 09/11/2003 and 09/15/2004.