In accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, Water Users Associations (WUAs) became responsible for the maintenance and operation of on-farm irrigation systems and the provision of irrigation water to local residents. Currently, not all WUAs provide high-quality services to provide local residents with irrigation water. In this regard, local problems often arise with irrigation of agricultural land owned by local residents. This directly affects their well-being and leads to increased local conflicts over irrigation water.
Despite the fact that the issues of irrigation water management were transferred to WUAs, the role of local self-government bodies remains high. The degree of interaction between local self-government bodies and WUAs on the management of irrigation systems and the provision of irrigation water to local residents directly affects the access of local residents to irrigation water. As practice shows on the ground in those aiyl okmotu and WUAs where there is a strong human potential, interaction is carried out at the proper level and the local population is provided with irrigation water.
At the end of March 2011, RDF launched a new project "Horizontal Training on Effective Water Resources Management at the LSG Level" aimed at strengthening the capacities and capabilities of local self-governments. The main objective of the project was to strengthen the capacity of LSG bodies to provide irrigation services to the population through successful partnerships with local water user associations. The project covered 120 aiyl okmotu in Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken provinces of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Duration of the project - 2011
Place of implementation - Batken, Osh and Jalal-Abad regions
Donor: OSCE
Partners: Foundation for Tolerance International (FTI), Institute for Policy and Development (DPI), Center for Support of Civil Society in Jalal-Abad, Foundation for Law and Business Development
Objective of the project
The goal of the project “Horizontal training in effective water resources management at the level of local self-government bodies” was to increase the capacity of representatives of 120 local self-government bodies of Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken oblasts on water resources management and interaction with water users associations in providing irrigation water to local residents.
Main project activities:
- Identified, studied and described the leading practices of management of irrigation systems and maintenance of WUAs at least 10 WUAs recognized by competent organizations in the southern region of the Kyrgyz Republic;
- A training module “Trainings for Trainers” (ToT) was developed, aimed at the interaction of LSG and WUA bodies on improving the management of irrigation systems for maintaining WUAs;
- 2 ToTs were conducted with the participation of representatives (mentors) from 30 selected LSG bodies in Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken regions;
- Based on the results of the training, the mentors completed their homework aimed at strengthening the interaction of LSG and WUA bodies on identifying existing problems of the local irrigation system and providing irrigation water to local residents and developed joint plans to address the identified problems;
- Each representative of 30 LSG and WUA bodies, trained at the training, trained representatives of neighbouring LSG and WUA bodies in successful irrigation management practices and helped them in the development of amendments to the plans for the management of irrigation systems in the territory of their ayil aimags;
- 3 regional forums were held in Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken oblasts to discuss the achievements of the project objectives: successes, difficulties, conclusions and recommendations with the participation of at least 30 representatives of LSG bodies, WUAs and other stakeholders;
- A sub-grant program was supported to stimulate inter-municipal cooperation.
