EDB publishes a monograph on water use in the CIS region
Almaty, 20 May 2014. Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) published the monograph titled Modern Water Management in the CIS Countries. Its authors, Vladimir Yasinsky, Alexander Mironenkov and Tulegen Sarsembekov, state that water resources form the basis of all social, economic and environmental activities and are the only means to solve the most important global challenges, including food, energy, public health, socioeconomic, and environmental issues. In this connection the improvement of water management, its comprehensive use and protection, and the strengthening of cooperation in trans-boundary river basins are of special importance.
The monograph emphasises that the variety of water uses in the basin of a same water course often causes competition for water at the local and national levels or between countries, where a river is trans-boundary, and often has a political aspect. The water availability indicators in the CIS countries, if to take into account the significant volumes of trans-boundary flows and areas located in the basins of international water courses, confirm that interstate cooperation in the area of comprehensive use and protection of water should be furthered. For this reason and in order to effectively manage trans-boundary water resources, political approaches should be coordinated and integrated, innovative solutions should be found, and unilateral activities should be transformed into multilateral cooperation.
The authors state that a comprehensive water management system is still being created in the CIS and its legal advancement depends, to a significant extent, on other legal fields governing environmental protection, economy and finance, construction, education, science, national security, and international relations.
Finding joint solutions to environmental and resource problems and to issues associated with trans-boundary rivers, multilateral investment projects, the advancement of the scientific and technical base, and professional development should be important factors in ensuring sustainable development in the CIS countries and the enhancement of their integration. Practice suggests that, to achieve this in current conditions, new approaches are needed to financing research and developments, organising engineering business, and training specialists in this area. The legislative framework in the area of construction and design needs to be urgently updated – many standards, rules, guidelines and recommendations are outdated and do not meet the requirements of international financial institutions.
The multisectoral and universal nature of water use substantiates the need for an integrated approach to water management, which is an important political process in interstate relationships which furthers the effective use of water, land and other resources.
The new monograph published by EDB is intended to draw the attention of specialists and researchers specialising in water management and international relationships to this issue and may be used as a practical textbook by university students.
Additional Information
Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. EDB’s charter capital exceeds US $1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.
Read more at https://www.eabr.org.