World community recognized the environmental crisis in the Aral Sea Basin as the largest environmental disaster of the last century resulting in severe socio-economic consequences for the population of the subregion inhabited by over 50 million people. In 1994, the Heads of the Central Asian States adopted the first “Aral Sea Basin Program” (ASBP-1). Due to the water-management focus of the ASBP-1 and certain issues with cross-sectoral coordination, it soon became obvious that there is a need for a new approach to planning and implementation of these activities in the region.

Main objective of the IFAS thereunder was to raise funds from the five Central Asian States and the international donor community to finance the Aral Sea Basin Program (ASBP).

Development of the first Program was initiated in 1992, with the active participation of the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP. The main goals of the Program, which was launched in 1994, included:

-              stabilizing the environment in the Aral Sea Basin

-              restoring the affected environment of the Aral Sea Region

-              improving management of water and land resources in the Basin

-              creating management structures at all levels for planning and implementation of the Program.

All work under the ASBP-1 was divided in two stages. The preparatory stage was allocated 3 to 5 years, and about USD 30 million. The second stage – the stage of implementation – was allocated 10 to 15 years, with the overall cost of work estimated at about USD 500-750 million. The program included eight components based on a concept of projects, some of which were already quite well elaborated.

Having completed most of the work under the initial preparatory stage, in the first half of 1997, the five Central Asian States and the major international organizations which funded this program undertook a joint survey of the status of the ASBP-1, including its organizational and management framework. The meeting produced the following recommendations for the second phase of the Program: (I) in order to obtain the unconditional support of the Central Asian States, put the main emphasis on implementation of fast output projects; (II)  highlight the most demonstrative practical results of projects; (III)  develop coherent policies and action programs focusing on water and natural resources management at the level of the states and the entire region, with the goal to reduce the amount of water intake from the Amudarya and Syrdarya Rivers by 15 percent; (IV) improve work with the civil society and the public, and create favorable conditions supporting the policy improvements in this area.

The paragraphs below offer a brief description of works under the main projects and activities.

The preparatory stage was successfully completed. The National and Regional Reports prepared with the assistance from the World Bank and with the active participation of experts and consultants, UNDP, USAID and WARMAP were presented. Based on the results of these reports, key stakeholders decided to move to the second phase of the Program. The IFAS Board approved the Terms of Reference for the second stage of the program. Implementation of the second stage of the program began in 1998 in form of the project on water and environmental management. Three draft Agreements to improve the management of transboundary waters were prepared and sent to the member-states.

The project was funded from the Trust Fund of the Government of Switzerland and equity financing of the Central Asian States. It completed assessment of safety and stability of 10 dams, two in each of the five countries in the region, and developed appropriate investment plans. By means of pilot projects, monitoring and early warning systems were modernized on selected dams.

Under the supervision of Swiss experts, the National and Regional Groups undertook an assessment of needs of the National Hydrometeorological Services (NMHS). The detailed assessment reports have been sent out to all the countries in the region and the donors. Based on these reports, it was proposed to equip 25 transboundary waters monitoring stations with hydrological equipment to process and transfer data to the NMHS. The Swiss government funded equipment of experimental meteorological and hydrological stations in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The UK and U.S. governments funded the purchase of equipment for the NMHS in Uzbekistan to receive and process satellite data.

A series of activities was implemented under the guidance of the TACIS-WARMAP experts. The project established two regional and five national centers hosting databases on the environment and water resources. This resulted in online publishing of the five updated reports reflecting the current environmental situation.

Numerous detailed reports were produced on the use of water resources, their quality assessment and management practices, development of pilot projects, proposals for improving the legal framework, standards and regulations, options and issues in strategic planning, pollution prevention, water quality management. The research was funded mainly by the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The MAWR RU developed the Irrigation and Drainage Sector Development Strategy and supervised preparation of the feasibility report and the feasibility study of this project. The team of experts presented alternative options of improving the drainage water disposal system and the baseline scenario, as well as evaluations thereof, and completed the environmental assessment of the Project.

In close cooperation with local experts, international consultants undertook a series of preliminary studies, the results of which laid grounds to prepare a coherent strategy for restoration of biological diversity, and contained an assessment of prospects of the Pilot Project to restore the biological diversity of the Lake Sudochye worth USD 3.9 million. The project was included in the GEF-funded WEMP project, and its implementation was successfully completed in mid-2002.

The work started with identification and assessment efforts under the project “Regulation of the Syrdarya River flow and the water level in the northern part of the Aral Sea” (Stage I), which had an overall budget of USD 65 million. This project was the first major investment project within the general Program for the economic development in the Kazakhstan part of the Syrdarya River Basin, devised in accordance with the main lines of action of the ASBP. The Project provided for six components: restoration of the Northern Aral Sea, improvement of hydrological monitoring of Syrdarya River, restoration of Shardara Dam, restoration of aquatic biological resources; monitoring and evaluation; institutional development. The main objectives of the project were to: (I) develop the agriculture (including livestock industry) and fisheries in the Kazakhstan part of the Syrdarya Basin; (II) preserve the Northern Aral Sea and improve the environment in the delta of Syrdarya and in the Aral Sea Region.

With the financial support from international donors, the Program undertook a number of environmental studies on the Aral Sea shrinkage impact.

The project was implemented as a component of the umbrella Project on Regulation of the Syrdarya River Flow and Preservation of the Northern Aral Sea. Preliminary stages were funded by the Government of Italy.

The work started with identification and assessment efforts under the Project to improve water supply, sanitation and health of people in Karakalpakstan and the Khorezm province, the overall budget of the project amounted to USD 120 million. The project started in 1998. Funding was provided by the World Bank (USD 75 million), the Government of Germany (USD 9.4 million), and the Kuwait Fund (USD 19.8 million). The main components of the project included: (I) improvements in water supply; (II) improvements in sanitation, health and hygiene; (III) provision of technical assistance; (IV) project management, design and supervision.

The identification and evaluation efforts under the project focused on the town of Dashoguz. The overall cost of the project was USD 30.3 million.

The identification and evaluation efforts under the project focused on the towns of Aralsk and Kazalinsk in Kyzylorda province, funded by the World Bank (USD 7.7 million) in 1998 and the follow-up project funded by the Government of Germany (USD 7.7 million) and the Kuwait Fund (USD 11.5 million).

Reports describing the main issues and proposals for pilot projects in the runoff formation zone were developed and distributed to the Central Asian States and international donors.

The scope of the project included equipment of channel Dustlik in Uzbekistan with instrumentation. The purchase and installation of equipment and training of local staff was financed by the Government of Canada (CIDA). The monitoring equipment was installed on the River Chirchik (Karasu), funded by the U.S. government. The French government has funded the pilot project at the upper reach of the Southern Golodnostepsky canal.

Local staff was trained in methods and rules of procurement, disbursement of loans, and management. The Government of the Netherlands funded the equipment of the ICAS and IFAS offices. The funding from the UNDP was used for the capacity development project in regional organizations. The main objective of the project was to build the capacity of ICAS and its institutions (ICSD and ICWC).

The largest regional project was the GEF-funded Water and Environment Management Project (WEMP), funded by the governments of the Netherlands and Sweden. The total project budget comprised USD 21.5 million, including USD 9.3 million from the GEF, USD 4.1 million from the five Central Asian States, USD 2.8 million from the Government of the Netherlands, USD 1.4 million from the EU/TACIS, USD 1 million from the Swedish International Development Agency.

The project consisted of six components:

Component A: National and Regional Water and Soil Salt Management.

The component supported development of sustainable regional and national sustainable water management and distribution strategies and scenarios with the account of the environmental needs in the basins of Amudarya and Syrdarya Rivers, and assisted the decision makers in five countries to formulate medium and long-term agreements on water resources management.

Component B: Public Awareness.

The component included developing a public awareness campaign in the five states, development of a communications strategy on water saving and education of the population to instill careful attitude to water.

Component C: Dam Safety and Reservoir Management.

The component supported safety assessment of selected dams in the five countries. It also supported the upgrading of monitoring and warning systems at nine dams, and training in dam safety monitoring and assessment, preparation of detailed designs for priority rehabilitation measures.

Component D: Transboundary Water Flow Monitoring.

The component supported capacity building through the purchase and installation of water flow and water quality monitoring equipment at 25 trans-boundary water monitoring stations.

Component E: Wetlands Restoration.