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FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8587
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1821
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1819
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1763
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1815
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1776
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1705
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1800
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1519
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1537
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1331
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1788
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 1088
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0092
RUEHWR/AMEMBASSY WARSAW 0020
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0004

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 DUSHANBE 001717 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, OES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID SENV TBIO TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN - AN OCEAN OF IRONY: ABUNDANT WATER IN A 
DESERT-LIKE, MOUNTAINOUS, LANDLOCKED COUNTRY 
 
REF: STATE 128229 
 
DUSHANBE 00001717  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  SUMMARY:  Water gushes down the mountains of 
Tajikistan, the most water-rich country in Central Asia.  Yet 
people lack clean drinking water, utilities are poorly managed, 
and poor irrigation hinders agricultural development.  There 
exists tremendous potential for hydropower development for 
energy export, but the government has not yet been able to 
harness this resource to its benefit.  Tajikistan remains 
plagued by crumbling Soviet irrigation, water supply and 
sanitation systems.  Transboundary water sharing issues are a 
constant threat to political peace with neighboring Uzbekistan, 
while Afghanistan could become a strategic water partner.  The 
government recognizes the challenges it faces and political will 
from the top rains down, but Tajikistan needs assistance from 
international partners in order to soak up its potential and 
develop its water infrastructure.  United States assistance can 
make a big impact locally to reduce suffering from water-borne 
diseases and region-wide by facilitating resolutions to tough 
transboundary water issues.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
GOVERNMENT ENTHUSIASM SPRINGS WHILE BUDGET TRICKLES 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Water is Tajikistan's greatest resource and the Tajik 
government recognizes the power of harnessing its potential.  In 
2003, at the initiative of Tajikistan's President Rahmonov, the 
UN General Assembly declared 2005-2015 the Decade of Water for 
Life.  Political will from the top is genuine and the government 
is committed to supplying the population with potable water, 
reforming its water utilities management system and investing in 
improved infrastructure.  To accomplish these goals, however, 
the Ministry of Water needs $800-900 million.  With an 
internally-funded fiscal budget of USD 500 million, Tajikistan 
currently provides 8.5 million Tajik Somoni (TJS) or the 
equivalent of 2.4 million USD each year for water activities, 
60% of which goes towards the salaries of the ministry's 17,000 
employees.  Tajikistan relies mainly on foreign donors such as 
the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to provide financing 
for water projects. 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The president has proposed a plan to supply water to 
the majority of the country by 2020.  The plan has been sent to 
all ministries for clearance and the president hopes it will be 
approved by October 2006.  The government plans to allot $5-6 
million of its own funds towards the project.  U.S. assistance 
in coordination with other donors could provide needed resources 
to supplement the government's funds. The MoW is also proposing 
several amendments and new legislation to parliament that would 
improve water sanitation and management, including legislation 
that would bolster USAID's Water Users Association program. 
 
PRIORITY NO. 1 - I CAN'T DRINK THE WATER! 
 
¶4.  (U)  The first priority for the Tajik government is to 
provide the population with clean drinking water.   Tajikistan's 
Soviet-built 1960s water supply and sewage system is in dire 
need of repair.  In urban areas, 93 percent of the population 
has running water, but only 43 percent in rural areas.  In major 
cities, 80 percent of the population is connected to sewer 
facilities, but only five percent in rural areas.  Residents 
routinely report water outages when the old equipment breaks 
down or electricity is cut off and pumping stations cannot 
operate.  Tajikistan's landscape is 93 percent mountainous and 
many homes rely on pumping stations to supply water.  Some rural 
residents rely on open above ground canals for their water. 
Children often play in the same water canal they drink from and 
 
DUSHANBE 00001717  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
bathe in. 
 
¶5.  (U)  As anyone who has turned on a tap in Dushanbe knows, 
water from the faucet often resembles tea, and sometimes in 
certain neighborhoods, a stew, complete with rocks and leaves. 
No large-scale filtration system exists, leaving the public 
vulnerable to a high occurrence of water-borne diseases. 
Currently, water purification is minimal; water reservoirs are 
chlorinated, but this does not save water from contamination in 
the corroded pipelines. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  The World Bank is attempting to help bring potable 
water to Dushanbe through a $20 million project.  The project is 
in jeopardy, however, because the Islamic Development Bank has 
dragged its feet on its part of the project's implementation. 
IDB has not managed to clean Dushanbe's water basin, which 
causes the dirty water to destroy the World Bank's newly 
installed equipment that is supposed to clean the water supply. 
The World Bank has temporarily suspended installing new 
equipment.  If IDB follows through with its commitment, this 
project would provide 70 percent of Dushanbe's population with 
clean drinking water. 
 
 
PRIORITY NO. 2 - REFORM UTILITIES MANAGEMENT TO PRECIPITATE 
ECONOMIC GROWTH 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Two-thirds of the population works in agriculture, 
but delays in timely water delivery to farms result in huge 
economic losses for farmers, who in turn are not able to pay 
their bills and become more indebted.   Without the USD 180 
million annual subsidy the Soviet Union used to pour into 
maintenance of irrigation systems, farmers cannot maximize 
production.  The government currently spends USD three million 
annually for maintenance, which is funded through budget 
supplementals. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Getting farmers to pay for water affects not only the 
water industry but the electricity sector.  The revenue-poor MoW 
is plagued by residents, farmers, and businesses refusing to pay 
for their water usage.  Farmers owe the MoW 55 million Tajik 
Somoni (TJS), the equivalent of $16 million.  Of this amount, 
the MoW owes 22 million TJS to the Ministry of Energy and Barqi 
Tojik (the state electric utility) for energy consumption.  The 
MoW's facilities consume 18 percent of Tajikistan's electric 
power production.  In the mid and late autumn, the lack of 
reliable electricity means that pumping stations cannot function 
and farmers cannot sow winter crops.  The government faces a 
dilemma as the MoW cannot simply cut off water to people who do 
not pay their bills; it would be a political disaster.  The MoW 
has tried to bring private companies to court in an attempt to 
force them to pay. 
 
¶9.  (U)  USAID's Water Users Association program has been a 
tremendous success training farmers how to properly maintain and 
manage water resources and develop sound financial management. 
WUAs have addressed payment issues by introducing water meters 
to communities.  Water meters are a transparent tool that allows 
both the government and user to accurately measure the amount of 
water used so that the user can pay the proper amount.  Through 
this program, farmers now are beginning to pay the MoW and water 
payments have increased by 40 percent.  If this program can be 
replicated throughout the country, it would dramatically 
increase financial resources for the MoW to carry out necessary 
projects and infrastructure rehabilitation. 
 
PRIORITY NO. 3- RIVER BANK REINFORCEMENT SAVES LIVES AND MONEY 
 
DUSHANBE 00001717  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶10.  (U)  Each year the Tajik government spends over one million 
USD reinforcing river banks and cleaning up after flood damage. 
This year, the Asian Development Bank has provided $8.3 million 
in credit for bank reinforcement projects along the Pyanj River, 
which borders Afghanistan.  Next year, ADB will provide $22 
million in credit to complete bank reinforcement projects.  Bank 
reinforcement will save lives, property and economic 
livelihoods. 
 
AN OVERARCHING PRIORITY- GOOD NEIGHBORS AND TRANSBOUNDARY 
COOPERATION 
 
¶11.  (U)  Living in a closely knit and politically sensitive 
neighborhood, like it or not, the Central Asian countries need 
to work together to resolve transboundary water issues. 
Tajikistan needs to address watersharing issues before moving 
forward with larger hydropower projects.  Embassy Dushanbe and 
the Afghan Reconstruction Group facilitated preliminary 
bilateral water discussions between the Tajik and Afghan 
governments in Tajikistan, which resulted in the drafting of a 
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to address transboundary water 
issues and cooperation between the two countries.  This MoU will 
help to lay the groundwork for future frequent and closer 
bilateral discussions, increased cooperation on monitoring river 
flows, and cooperation on infrastructure projects such as 
hydropower dams.  Establishing a solid cooperative relationship 
between the two countries now is crucial to ensuring that future 
projects are not hindered due to squabbling over water rights. 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  Tajikistan's relationship with Uzbekistan has been 
less cooperative.  During the Soviet period, water-supplying 
republics (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) traded with energy 
supplying republics (Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan) as part of a 
centrally planned and enforced regional economy.  That balance 
has broken down in post-Soviet Central Asia.   The Tajik 
Minister of Water says that he spends at least one hour each day 
trying to resolve water issues with Uzbek authorities.  The 
media reports Uzbekistan threatening to cut off Tajikistan's 
electricity supply if it does not pay its energy bill or supply 
Uzbekistan with more water.  As the country with the most water 
resources in Central Asia, downstream countries such as 
Uzbekistan rely on Tajikistan to supply water to its farms. 
Uzbekistan has also opposed Tajikistan's plans to build 
additional hydropower stations that may reduce the flow of water 
to Uzbekistan, and also make Tajikistan less reliant on Uzbek 
electricity.  Many Tajiks believe Uzbekistan may become more 
aggressive toward Tajikistan if Tashkent feels threatened by 
Tajikistan's increased cooperation with other countries in the 
region. 
 
¶13.  (U)  Another key transboundary issue is reviving the Aral 
Sea's ever-diminishing water level.  The Aral Sea is the biggest 
environmental disaster in Central Asia due to years of Soviet 
agricultural practices demanding river diversions that deplete 
the sea.   Despite international conferences and partnerships to 
address the problem, no resolution is on the horizon. 
 
 
U.S. ENGAGEMENT - A FAUCET IN A PARCHED DESERT 
 
¶14.  (U)  Measures the U.S. can use to assist Tajikistan in 
solving it water problems include: 
 
-- Increase the number of exchanges for government officials as 
well as technical experts to the United States to learn about 
the spectrum of water issues from sanitation to irrigation to 
 
DUSHANBE 00001717  004.4 OF 004 
 
 
transboundary water management; 
 
-- Promote new efficient technology such as pumping stations 
that would rely on half the electricity, modern irrigation 
technology such as drip irrigation, machinery to dig wells in 
rural areas, and filters 
 
-- Provide technical assistance so that Tajik politicians and 
decision-makers can better understand reforms needed. 
 
-- Expand support for USAID's Water User's Associations programs 
which train farmers how to manage and properly maintain water 
resources; 
 
-- Co-finance IFI projects; and 
 
-- Continue to support and facilitate dialogue between Central 
Asian nations to address transboundary water issues, 
particularly between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. 
 
¶15.  (U)  COMMENT:  Tajikistan's water needs are basic and the 
United States can make a big impact with financial or technical 
support.  By providing assistance in the realm of water we will 
address one of the government's top priorities as well as allow 
the people of Tajikistan in urban and rural areas to benefit 
from tangible and direct U.S. assistance.   Post would welcome 
technical assistance from U.S. government agencies either by 
hosting experts or collaborating with domestic offices to 
provide training for Tajiks.  In line with the Central Asian 
Infrastructure Integration Initiative, post will remain involved 
in hydropower and energy issues and identify opportunities for 
U.S. business involvement.  END COMMENT.JACOBSON