WUA development and strengthening in the Kyrgyz Republic
Date
2005
Authors
Johnson, Sam H., III, author
Stoutjesdijk, Joop, author
U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, publisher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
Under the On-Farm Irrigation Project (OIP), the Department of Water Resources (DWR) of the Kyrgyz Republic is to rehabilitate tertiary irrigation infrastructure. Rehabilitation on infrastructure serving 50,000 ha is underway; infrastructure serving 160,000 ha is to be rehabilitated over the six-year life of the project. To replace the role of irrigation brigades on former state farms, the Government has promoted establishment of Water User Associations (WUAs) to take over on-farm irrigation O&M. Initially, WUAs were formed under a Presidential Decree but with project assistance, in 2002 the Republic passed a WUA Law that superseded the decree. Under the law 350 WUAs have been registered. As part of OIP, WUA Support Units at the central (1), provincial (7) and district (26) level have been formed to develop and strengthen WUAs. During the first three years of the project, these units have provided training to almost 11,000 trainees as well as assisting with WUA re-registration under the new law. Although still too low, fees paid by members to cover WUA O&M and administration as well as pay the DWR for water supplied have increased in every province since 2000. A resolution just passed by the Government now gives WUAs legal ownership of their on-farm irrigation infrastructure.
Description
Presented during the Third international conference on irrigation and drainage held March 30 - April 2, 2005 in San Diego, California. The theme of the conference was "Water district management and governance."