Seminar on international water law and cross-border water management

Water management issues are of great relevance to the Central Asian countries, because of two important contexts, namely:

• a transboundary context: The Central Asian countries largely rely on water from two main basins, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya.

• an economic development context: On a national level, agricultural and industrial development is largely dependent on water.

An Austrian Embassy has recently been established in Astana through which the country aims at increasing co-operation with the Central Asian countries. Austria has many similarities with the countries in the region, including being landlocked and mountainous, with water resources being formed in the Alpine regions.

Furthermore, Austria has:

• a long history of cross-border co-operation in the water sector, e.g. through the ICPDR;
• long experience of water management at the national level (EU Water Framework Directive, developing hydropower, etc).

The policies and experience of Austria are, in this context, very relevant to both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which are themselves developing their capacity and cross-border co-operation on water management.

The purpose of this seminar was to share experience and lessons learnt between Austria and the two Central Asian countries. It has been held in Vienna, where the ICPDR is located, thus enabled the participating countries to profit from the extensive practical experience the Commission has in cross-border management of the Danube river basin.