Water Institutional Reforms in Tajikistan - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 140

a commitment of all key water actors, as the processes of their development are too intranspa
rent to be scrutinized and not much open debate takes place. It is also striking that several
issues have continuously been mentioned in all of the documents since 2000. Their repeated
announcement already points to the conclusion that they may not have been implemented;
otherwise they would not have had to be mentioned as objectives again and again. The follow
ing subchapters will provide a closer look at these further steps: the institutional reforms, their
implementation, and their outcomes.

7.3.2

General Legal Framework

The main legislation concerning water is the Water Code. 217 The first law regulating water
governance after independence was the Water Code of 1993. In the same year, the Law on
Nature Protection was approved that also includes regulations relevant to the MinVodKhoz as it
determines the quantitative and qualitative standards for water. 218
The Water Code defines water as an exclusive state property (§ 4). Economic mechanisms
like water fees are not mentioned in the Water Code. It defines the competencies of the Majlisi
Oli (Parliament), the government and the local authorities, and the four authorized state agen
cies (§§ 5 9). It outlines the main directions for the usage, regulation, and protection of water
resources. The 1993 Water Code thereby included provisions adopted from laws of other
countries that partly contradicted or duplicated still existing Soviet laws (Kholmatov 2003:
152).
In 2000, a general revision of the Water Code took place and on November, 29 the new
Water Code was enacted after it had been approved by both chambers of Parliament. It con
tinues to define water as an exclusive state property. The main changes in institutional respect
are the introduction of fees for water usage (§ 31), 219 hence its adaptation to the changes made
by the Presidential decree in 1996 (see below chapter 7.3.3). It also includes a new definition of
the competencies of different agencies. The new code describes the competencies of the gov
ernment and its subordinate organs, and the local authorities (§§ 6, 7). The Parliament the
primary body for determining the policy direction according to the old Water Code is not
mentioned in the entire document. The Code involves a strengthening of the rights and obliga
tions of water users and water suppliers: The obligations of water users are, among other
things, to make timely payments and to mind water rights (§ 45). Article 43 contains the right
of farmers to organize themselves in water user associations (WUAs) in order to operate and
maintain tertiary irrigation systems, distribute water fairly between DFs, collect ISF, and settle
disputes concerning the distribution of water.
The Water Code also adumbrates a transition to basin management, as it states that water
management should be based on a combination of basin and territorial principle (§ 9). This
process should include the gradual privatization of water facilities (excluding those of strategic

217 Other laws, which will not be presented in detail but that affect water management, are the Law on Mineral
Resources, Law on Energetics, Land Code, Law on Payment for Land, Law On State Sanitary Inspection, Forest Code,
Law On Veterinary Inspection, Law on Protection and Use of Fauna, Civil Code, Criminal Code, and the annual state
budget (Kholmatov 2003: 153).
218 Author's interview with two officials of the Environmental Ministry, Dushanbe, 10/07/2003; with a senior official
at the CFPS, Dushanbe, 10/13/2003.
219 These fees are restricted to such types of water usage in which technical infrastructure is involved (so-called special
water use) and are not levied on water usage in general (so-called general water use is still free of charge).