Water Institutional Reforms in Tajikistan - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 146

The World Bank project initially comprised ten FSKs: four in Khatlon, three in Sughd, and
three in the regions of Republican subordination (RRS 244 ). The scope was extended in the
course of the project. The first WUA was founded in July 2000 (Rakhmatilloev et al. 2003:
102), and officially registered on December 25, 2001. In October 2003, there were 28 WUAs
working: ten in Sughd, seven in the RRS, and eleven in Khatlon. WUAs are financially sup
ported during the initial years of their existence: 75% of the costs for salary are paid by the
project in the first year, 50% in the second year, and 25% in the third year. By the fourth year,
WUAs should be fully self financed. 245 ADB and USAID started similar projects.
Besides the WUAs established by these top down oriented projects, there are also
projects that adhere to a bottom up approach. Two kinds of projects can be distinguished:
first, those aimed solely at setting up WUAs; second, projects that establish WUAs as part of
community development (CD) programs with a wider focus. In these projects, irrigation water
management is one mechanism among several to reach the general aim of community devel
opment. Other components of the projects include issues such as drinking water supply, health
services, and microcredits. The establishment and legal registration of associations is part of
the sustainability component of these projects. For the most part, these projects are imple
mented by international NGOs, although the UNDP has such programs as well. In contrast to
the CFPS project, these projects do not provide any loans or grants for salaries. They provide
grants for the rehabilitation of the irrigation system as an incentive but expect a certain contri
bution to the costs (usually between 15 30%) as a sign of ownership on part of the community.
Despite these numerous implementation activities, there is no nationally coordinated irri
gation reform program on the level of policy formulation, and there was no proper legal defini
tion about the status and tasks of WUAs until 2006. After the programs to establish WUAs
began, it soon became obvious that Article 43 of the Water Code was insufficient as a legal
foundation for WUAs and that a separate law on WUAs was necessary. The financial aspects
(e.g., tax liability and non commercial status) especially required clarification. A draft for such a
law was prepared in the framework of the Farm Privatization Project by the Center for Farm
Privatization Support (CFPS) together with the MinVodKhoz . The first draft was circulated in
2003. Various donors have been involved in the process by providing consultation and orga
nizing meetings. 246 Only after the research period of this study, by the end of 2006, was the law
finalized and approved by Parliament. The final law also included suggestions from Winrock
International, ADB, USAID and other donors. The USAID financed Water User Associations
Support Program (WUASP) organized together with a local NGO an open Parliamentary
hearing (ACTED 2005: 4; WUASP 2007). This activity is a result of the fact that the existing
framework proved to be inadequate for the projects planned by donors.
Because of the legal deficits and the plurality of actors implementing WUAs, WUAs in
Tajikistan have no uniform structure. The following Figure 11 presents two examples of typical
structures of WUAs. The upper half of the chart presents the administrative or legislative sec
tion, while the lower half is the executive section. The executive positions are normally paid,
although in some of the bottom up WUAs they are non paid in the beginning. Often the
WUA is divided into territorial sub groups whereby every group sends a representative to the
council. At the WUA “Mirob”, for example, the 464 member farms are divided into nine
244 The RRS comprises 12 districts ( raions ) in Central Tajikistan that are not subordinate to province ( oblast ) but directly
to the central government.
245 Author's interview with two officials of the CFPS, Dushanbe, 10/09/2003.
246 Author's interview with a senior official at the MinVodKhoz , Dushanbe, 08/20/2004; with a senior official of the
CFPS, Dushanbe, 10/13/2003.