Water Institutional Reforms in Kyrgyzstan - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 105

Administration is designed to have standing above the Ministries of Agriculture and Ecology
and is headed by a member of the government. 144
Although its implementation is beyond the research period of this study, as far as infor
mation is available, a short assessment on its prospects shall be provided here. In February
2006, more than a year after the Water Code was approved by the Parliament and the old Law
on Water lost its validity, a bylaw on the establishment of the National Water Council was
decreed by the Prime Minister. 145 The members of the Council are
The Minister of Economy and Finance;
The Minister of Justice;
The Minister of Agriculture, Water Management, and Processing Industries;
The Minister of Emergency Situations;
The Minister of Foreign Affairs;
The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism;
The Minister of Public Health;
The chairs of concerned Parliamentarian committees;
The governors of the oblasts ;
The mayors of Bishkek and Osh;
The directors of other concerned state agencies.
The National Water Council does not contain any members of civil society organizations,
private companies, or academic institutes. In the same directive, it was also decided that the
State Water Administration is “temporarily” transferred to the DepVodKhoz . Hence, despite the
desired comprehensive approach to water resource management, the main agency will stay the
same and will remain part of the Agricultural Ministry. It can be anticipated that the State Wa
ter Administration just like the basin administration will be a mere change of name without any
practical implications.
The perspective that the fragmentation will persist is supported by another development:
Two months after the establishment of the National Water Council under the Prime Minister,
a “National Council on Hydropower Policy” under the President was founded by Presidential
decree in April 2006. 146 In contrast to the National Water Council, the members of this council
are not restricted to state agencies. Members include several members of Parliament, repre
sentatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Minis
try of Justice, the Ministry of Transport and Communication, the DepVodKhoz , and other state
agencies. Further, the directors of several private hydropower companies, of the IWP&HP, the
MISI, and other experts are included. This Council is, in contrast to the National Water Coun
cil, established directly under the President, who possesses considerably more power and con
stancy than the Prime Minister (see chapter 5.5). It has the objective of coordinating and de
veloping a consistent position on hydropower relations with the neighboring states und to
advise the government on rational usage of the country's hydropower resources. Hence, an
important part of water politics is not discussed by the National Water Council, but instead by
this council. However, after the first session in May 2006, the council was dissolved again and
all functions transferred to the National Water Council. 147
144 Author's interview with a senior offical of the DepVodKhoz , Bishkek, 09/15/2004 and 11/03/2005; with a local
consultant to international donor organization, Bishkek, 09/29/2004.
145 Postanovlenie No. 64: O Natsional'nom sovete po vode of 02/03/2006.
146 Ukaz No. 174: O Natsional'nom sovete po vodnoenergeticheskoy politike pri Prezidente Kyrgyzskoy Respubliki of 04/17/2006
and Ukaz No. 185 of 04/27/2006.
147 Ukaz No. 410: Ob uprasdenenii Natsional'nogo soveta po vodnoenergeticheskoy politike pri Presidente Kyrgyzskoy Respunliki of
08/03/2006.