Managing Central Asia’s transboundary rivers: case studies of the Zarafshan (Tajikistan/Uzbekistan) and Tarim (Kyrgyzstan/China) rivers

Abstract

Many Central Asian river basins are transboundary and characterized by a combination of extensive irrigation farming and an arid climate in the lower catchments. Both aspects-the transboundary character with different national water management plans and the overexploitation of the limited water resources lead to environmental, socioeconomic and political problems which require-in the light of growing economies and the climate change-immediate solutions. Based on extensive field work and database evaluation (meteorological, hydrological and statistical data) from the Zarafshan River (Tajikistan/Uzbekistan) and the Tarim River (Kyrgyzstan/China), the status quo of the water resources is assessed and scenarios for the impacts of climate change on the water availability and water use are outlined. The results show that the extensive withdrawal of water for irrigation farming (with cotton being the most important crop