Water Institutional Reforms in Tajikistan - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 138

Except for the development of economic mechanisms, institutional reform is not mentioned.
This problem perception is also apparent in the National Report for the SPECA working
group on energy and water issues, where institutional problems were hardly mentioned, espe
cially when compared to Kyrgyzstan (SPECA 2004). On the one hand, this reflects the serious
financial and infrastructural problems (which are exacerbated in Tajikistan due to the civil war
period). On the other hand, it also shows that the awareness of institutional issues is relatively
low and a technocratic problem perception prevails.
On the international stage, however, the Tajik government has shown a strong commit
ment to water reforms. The International Year of Freshwater 2003, which as declared by the
UN, and its follow up event, the UN International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' from
2005 2015, are both initiatives of Tajikistan. Among its activities for the International Decade
the Tajik government hosted several conferences, such as the Dushanbe Fresh Water Forum
in 2003 and an international conference on regional cooperation in transboundary river basins
in 2005. The recommendations of the delegates of the latter conference included the develop
ment of national strategies aiming at good governance, decentralization, and integrated man
agement in the water sector (anon. 2005: 101f).
Yet one does not even have to talk to a government official in order to gain the impres
sion that water is a top priority for the government: The whole country is paved with posters
advertising slogans such as “Water is Life” and the dates of the UN water decade (2005 2015),
or the UN Water Year 2003 in that year. Many citizens, however, do not know that these are
international campaigns and believe that they are only conducted in Tajikistan. Also, they
commonly only refer to them cynically, as these campaigns did not result in any improvements
in the water supply. Beyond the drinking water supply, which affects the daily life also of the
inhabitants of the capital, there is little awareness of problems of water resources management.
A perception that water management is also an issue of water governance is inexistent among
most water experts.

7.3 Institutional Reforms

After this overview of the key actors in water governance, this chapter will describe the water
institutional reforms that have been conducted thus far. First, we will take a look at the policy
strategies that have been developed (ch. 7.3.1). The following chapter will address the general
legal framework (ch. 7.3.2). After that, the aspects of the introduction of water tariffs (irriga
tion service fees, ISF) and the transfer of irrigation management to WUAs are discussed in
detail (ch. 7.3.3 and 7.3.4). The transition to management along hydrographic boundaries will
not be discussed in a separate chapter as in the case study on Kyrgyzstan, but rather will be
analyzed in the section on the general framework, as no concrete reform decisions have been
made yet. In the sections on ISF and WUA, short digressions on the local case studies will
enrich the argument.

7.3.1 Formulation of a Policy Strategy

Tajikistan has long lacked a sound policy strategy for water resources management. This again
can be explained by the unstable situation during the 1990s. Only in 2001 was a “Concept on
Rational Use and Protection of Water Resources in the Republic of Tajikistan” published. In