Understanding Hydropolitics Over Major Transboundary Rivers of Central Asia

It is only the second half of the 20th century, the issue “hydropolitics” has become a part of the international agenda and specialists started to warn that water availability worldwide per person is decreasing. Time tested conflict and cooperation among Central Asian countries over water resources after independence has been the focus of regional and global attention. Imbalanced power relations and favouring Soviet status-quo between the countries may be the reason for the establishment of power-asymmetries, which complicates the basin water management today. The region has sufficient water resources for the population, agriculture and industry use. Therefore, the real problem is not scarcity but that of lack of commitment needed for cooperative management and inability of the region's governments to find a new, viable, mutually acceptable and beneficial framework for cooperation. Central Asian condition clearly exemplifies this sort of situation. Rational use of water resources is one of the main components in present-day conditions of ever-increasing freshwater deficiency.