Water Institutional Reforms in Tajikistan - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 149

Coordination is insufficient among all WUA projects implemented. It was only in Octo
ber 2005 that the first meeting of all the donors involved in WUA establishment was held.
Since then, monthly meetings have been conducted, reflecting the need for better coordina
tion. 251 However, in the meantime, each donor had already established its distinctive approach,
method, structure and even name for the WUAs, making a coherent reform even more diffi
cult. 252
Case Study: Aini Raion
This section will look at one WUA to gain an idea of the inside mechanisms and assess the
local level of water institutional reform. For deeper insight into the implementation process, a
case study of the WUA “Zargar” in Iskodar village was conducted. Iskodar belongs to the Dar
Dar jamoat , in the Aini raion (Sughd oblast ). 253 There are no WUAs in Aini at the irrigation sys
tems delivered by the RaiVodkhoz , and the RaiVodKhoz is not engaged in establishing any. Yet
there are WUAs established in the context of rehabilitation projects implemented by the NGO
German Agro Action (GAA) in villages that have self managed small channels from mountain
springs.
The WUA “Zargar” was established in 2005 in Iskodar for all farmers of the collective
DF. This WUA includes 105 ha of irrigated fields served by a canal that brings water from a
nearby mountain spring and provides the village with drinking and irrigation water. The canal
has not been in the responsibility of the DF but is ascribed to the village population in general.
The WUA establishment is part of a community development project by the NGO German
Agro Action. The main reason for its establishment was a project for the rehabilitation of the
canal by GAA.
The WUA is supposed to guarantee maintenance of the canal and distribution of irriga
tion and drinking water. With its establishment, irrigation management was transfered from the
DF to the WUA. Before the establishment of the WUA, there was a mirab who distributed the
water but no one was responsible for the maintenance of the system as a whole. 254 Also, since
the mirab did not receive a salary from the kolkhoz after its dissolution, he ceased to fulfill his
work as required. 255 The WUA was formally established on August 7, 2005 and was officially
registered on Novermber 10, 2005. It started working about two months before the field re
search for this study began. The WUA has about 300 members, i.e., all the households in the
village.
The WUA is closely connected to the Village Development Committee (VDC). The VDC
was established in April 2004, when GAA started to work in the village, as a counterpart for its
projects. The VDC has nine members (including two women). According to the council mem
bers, the initiative to establish the VDC came from its chair, the rais 256 of the DF. The VDC
got a room in a building belonging to the DF. The VDC and the WUA are difficult to separate.
The members of the VDC are the members of the WUA council. There are three members
251 Representatives from ACTED, WinRock International, USAID, CFPS, ADB, Luis Berger International, GTZ,
GAA, MSDSP, Mercy Corps, and UNDP participated in the first meeting. At the January 2006 meeting, a
representative of the MinVodKhoz also attended.
252 Besides WUA, designations such as “water committee”, “water user group”, “voluntary water user group”, or
“water and health committee” are used.
253 For general information on Aini raion see chapter 5.
254 Author's interview with the WUA specialist of the GAA, Aini, 09/27/2005.
255 Author's interview with a WUA representative, Iskodar, 09/27/2005.
256 Rais is the old Persian term for a person in a leading position. Today, it is used to refer to the director or the chair
of a kolkhoz , municipality, mahalla , company, etc.