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RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #2177/01 3391319
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051319Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9194
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1904
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1876
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1930
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 1892
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1921
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 1770
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1857
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1385
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0700

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 002177 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON EAID EAGR ENV TI
SUBJECT: TAJIKISTAN'S WATER PROBLEMS HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT ON HEALTH 
AND THE ECONOMY 
 
REF: DUSHANBE 1717 
 
DUSHANBE 00002177  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Nowhere is the theme of this year's United 
Nations' Human Development Report entitled "Beyond Scarcity: 
Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis" more fitting than in 
Tajikistan.  Despite an abundance of water in Tajikistan's many 
rivers and enormous hydroelectric potential, Tajikistan still 
suffers from serious health problems and economic 
under-development because it has been unable to properly utilize 
and manage its water resources.  USAID's Water User's 
Association program successfully empowered farmers on a micro 
level to effectively manage water resources and with the 
implementation of a new Water Users Association law now in 
place, this model can be replicated throughout Tajikistan.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Tajikistan ranks 122 out of 177 countries on the UN's Human 
Development Index.  According to the United Nations, only 59 
percent of the Tajik population has access to a centralized 
water supply.  Of the 699 centralized water systems in 
Tajikistan, 113 are broken and 358 do not provide sanitary 
water.  Only 23 percent of the urban population has access to a 
sewer system, and only five percent in rural areas.  Since the 
fall of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan's infrastructure has 
crumbled.  Current public spending on managing water resources 
amounts to only six to seven percent of public spending in 1990. 
 The lack of a water supply and sanitation system directly 
contributes to Tajikistan's health problems; for example, 
UNICEF's office in Tajikistan directly links a major cause of 
infant death-diarrhea--to unsanitary water conditions.  Poor 
water management also has an economic impact.  Sultan Rahimov, 
Acting Chair of the Aral Sea Rescue Foundation, estimates that 
Tajikistan loses out on $1.7 billion each year in mismanagement 
of water resources, ineffective consumption, and a lack of 
effective cooperation with its regional neighbors. 
 
¶3.  On November 30 the government approved a $997 million 
Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water proposal to rehabilitate 
water and sanitation systems between 2007 to 2020 and provide 
clean drinking water to the country.  The proposal outlines that 
15 percent would be funded by the government, 10 percent from 
local budgets, five percent from private industry and 
anticipates that 70 percent of the $997 million from investors, 
primarily meaning international organizations.  The ministry 
anticipates the government will formally accept the proposal 
soon.  (COMMENT:  It is unclear what the status of this project 
will be given the recent appointment of a new Minister of Water. 
END COMMENT.) 
 
USAID WATER USERS ASSOCIATION: AN EXAMPLE OF GOOD MANAGEMENT 
 
¶4.  USAID's successful Water Users Association (WUA) project has 
been an effective example of how local communities can take 
control of their local water resources.  WUA programs are 
instrumental in assisting farmers to rehabilitate their drinking 
water and irrigation supply system.  The WUA program's reach 
extends beyond mere technical assistance and creates truly 
sustainable community groups responsible for managing their own 
water resources and utilities-everything from establishing 
prices to applying for infrastructure rehabilitation loans. 
Through the WUA program, farmers learn tangible and transferable 
skills to manage their future.  WUA taught farmers how to 
operate computers and created work spaces for local associations 
to meet.   WUA members are trained in financial management and 
conflict management.  The program is a mechanism that teaches 
transparent and democratic ways to solve a problem. 
 
¶5.  In addition to implementing the WUA program, USAID's 
partner, Winrock International, also provided legislative advice 
to the government and successfully lobbied for Tajikistan's 
first Water Users Association Law, passed this month.  When the 
law is formally enacted, it will provide a legal operational 
environment for WUAs.   Before the WUA law, farmers did not have 
the official right to organize or collect money from water users 
to pay water utility bills.  (NOTE: Most people in Tajikistan do 
not pay their water utility fees, simply ignoring the nominal 
fee. END NOTE.)  This law provides a legal framework that 
delegates control to WUAs to solve problems, rather than solely 
relying on sometimes ineffective local Ministry of Land 
 
DUSHANBE 00002177  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Reclamation and Water chapters.  It also gives power to the WUAs 
to organize equitable water usage.  The law defines 
democratically principled parameters under which the WUAs should 
operate. 
 
¶6.  COMMENT:  Providing economic development assistance and 
laying the groundwork for good healthcare in Tajikistan are 
goals for the U.S. mission in Tajikistan.  Water problems affect 
a range of sectors, from agriculture to construction to food 
processing.  Rehabilitating failed water infrastructure and 
assisting the government on water management remain areas where 
the U.S. government can become engaged.  Despite the program's 
success, the program faces budget cuts next year.  We will 
monitor the existing WUAs and implementation of the new WUA law 
to see whether the advances achieved to date hold firm.  The 
WUA's methodology of incorporating local governance improvements 
into development work should prove valuable in other sectors 
besides infrastructure.  END COMMENT. 
JACOBSON