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Integrated Water Resources Management
in the Ferghana Valley (IWRM-Ferghana)
Canal Level
The Project is implemented in three pilot areas:
- South Ferghana Canal (SFC) in Uzbekistan,
- Khoja-Baqirgan Canal (KBC) in Tajikistan, and
- Aravan-Akbura Canal (AAC) in Kyrgyzstan
Along each of these primary irrigation canals, one Water Users Association (WUA) and 10 field plots were selected in the project‘s previous phase (2003 – 2005) for pilot-testing project interventions and monitoring of the changes. This now has translated into a broadscale WUA establishment process along the pilot canals especially in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan where former big size public cooperative farms are presently being replaced by smaller farm units.
Institutionally the project brought two major changes in the main canal level. First was the establishment of new hydrographic Canal Management Organizations (CMOs). Another immediate result was making user participation really happen through the initial establishment of Canal Water Committees (CWCs) for each of the three pilot canals. This again is an important water management innovation introduced in the region by the Project. Although the status and mandate of the CWCs are still under discussion, it puts the principle of user participation one step higher in the water resources management hierarchy than the usual WUAs at the former collective farm or on-farm level. The CWCs have been presently transformed into Unions of Canal Water Users (UCWU), undergoing further refinement and optimization throughout the current 3rd phase.
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