Water Institutional Reforms in Tajikistan - The Politics of Water Institutional Reform in Neopatrimonial States - page 162

for state agencies to set up independent Water User Associations is that they lack the money to
invest in the deteriorated infrastructure themselves. 289 However, the state WUA relation is also
substantially influenced by a lack of training on both sides on how to deal with each other and
which rights and obligation all parties have. This again is also the result of the non existent
legal foundation until 2006. Hence, there is a need to strengthen WUAs, RaiVodKhozes, and
local self governance structures simultaneously, so that they are capable of dealing with each
other. This shows the necessity to address the meso level in reforms, which is excluded from
many donor projects. It is only when both sides know and accept their respective roles, rights,
and responsibilities that they can fulfill their assigned tasks in irrigation management.
The role of the administration is limited in all of these reform processes. When looking at
the implementation of WUA reform, the limited role of government agencies is especially
obvious. Main efforts to implement irrigation reform in Tajikistan are carried out by donor
agencies and not by government agencies. Although there is no official record of all the WUAs
set up as yet, there is without much doubt no WUA in Tajikistan that was established without
donor involvement. The water administration itself is only in a limited scope engaged in WUA
development. They give advice to donors on where to establish WUAs, or they propose
projects to donors. One obvious reason for their weak role may be the lack of financial and
human capacities to implement reforms. But it also became obvious during the interviews with
various state officials that they do not consider reform implementation their primary responsi
bility but rely instead on donors to do it. Although state officials do not hesitate to criticize
aspects of the donors' approaches and WUA performance, they do not take the initiative to
make their own proposals on how to improve the program or even take action to set up
WUAs themselves. This lacking sense of responsibility can be witnessed not only at local level
but also at the oblast and national levels. For example, several representatives of the MinVod
Khoz confirmed the need for a special department at all levels of the MinVodKhoz to coordinate
and support the activities to set up WUAs. However, all of them stated that donors should set
up and finance such a department, be it at the central or at the oblast level. There is obviously
no perception of the option of becoming proactive, nor is there a sense of ownership of the
process.
The MinVodKhoz is not even the coordinating organization for all on going and planned
water management projects. While the department for foreign investments at the central Min
VodKhoz coordinates some of the larger donor projects, information about all ongoing projects
was not available either at the central level in the Ministry or at the oblast branches. In the
whole water administration, no one seems to have an overview of where and how many WUAs
exist. This is again a consequence of weak capacities paired with a certain organizational culture
as described above, but also a result of a lack of donor coordination. This lack of donor coor
dination is a common complaint of the state water agencies, local NGOs, INGOs, and the
donors themselves. On the other hand, it is to a certain degree also the failure of the state
agencies. As most donors have close contact with the khukumat and/or jamoat (district and
village administration) in the regions where they work, it should be their responsibility to dis
tribute this information further, such as to the RaiVodKhoz or other respective agencies and to
the superordinated authority. So both groups of actors blame each other for the opaque situa
tion.
The patrimonial features of the water administration have another effect that may be, al
beit indirectly, even more powerful: most donor agencies perceive the bureaucracy as non
288 Author's interview with a senior official of the OblVodKhoz , Khudjand, 10/11/2005.
289 Author's interview with the director of the OblVodKhoz , Khudjand, 09/02/2004.