BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Dec 4 (Asia Water Wire) — To tax or not to tax – that is the question that Kyrgyz parliamentarians are mulling over these days on Uzbekistan’s use of their water resources. With this ongoing debate, not only is water being regarded as a precious natural resource, but also a political tool it seems.

   The issue came about after the government of Uzbekistan announced its plan to raise the price of gas it is selling to Kyrgyzstan to 100 U.S. dollars – from 55 dollars -- per 1,000 cubic metre starting Jan. 1, 2007. Annual gas consumption in Kyrgyzstan is 850 million cubic metres. Although it has plenty of water resources, Kyrgyzstan does not have oil and gas reserves. Thus, it is dependent on Uzbekistan for its fuel supply.

   According to a report published in GlobalSecurity.org, Uzbekistan is the world’s eighth largest natural gas producer and a major oil source for many countries. Apart from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan exports natural gas to Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Tajikistan. Kyrgyzstan pays for the gas in the form of 50 percent cash and 50 percent products, including the republic’s abundant commodity – water.

   It is said that Uzbekistan sources more than 70 percent of its water supply from the rivers of its Central Asian neighbour for its power-generating stations and agriculture fields. Two major Central Asia rivers, the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya, flows from Kyrgyzstan through Uzbekistan to the west.

   Kyrgyz officials, however, seem to be divided about plans to turn water into an income-generating resource. Government and private lawyers, as well as scientists, are not keen on the idea, saying that “water cannot be a subject of bargaining”. However, many officials and deputies think the country has to find money to pay for the imported natural gas.

   “The power complex of the country is worn out. During the (country’s) 15 years of independence, modernisation has not been carried out. We spend huge amounts of money on the maintenance and repair of reservoirs. But our neighbours – Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan – use water free of charge,” Temir Sariev, deputy of parliament, told Asia Water Wire.

   Ernest Karybekov, the head of Power, Mining and Natural Resources Department, is open to the idea of taxing Uzbekistan’s water supply. “Experts and scientists say that next year, the water will not be sufficient for our hydroelectric power stations and for the agricultural needs of Uzbekistan. Therefore, we shall collect more water than we did this year in our reservoirs,” he explained to AWW.

   He added that it was about time that his country dealt with the water problem once and for all. “Presidents and governments have signed many agreements on the water problem but no one carried them out,” he said. 

   One of the more recent water agreements Central Asian countries signed this year happened in August in Russia when Eurasian Economic Community member countries reached a decision to work out a concept paper on effective utilisation of water and power resources in the region.    Karybekov said Uzbekistan should be given access only to water for its electric turbines, but not for its fields. This way, he said, Uzbekistan will have to lower the price of gas.

   However, not all parliamentarians think that Kyrgyzstan can indeed sell water. Alisher Sabirov, a deputy of parliament, says: "We cannot sell water. Water is a gift from God."

   Sariev had another novel approach to the water tax question. “I suggest that we take payment not for water, but for the delivery of water. Villagers of neighbouring states (in Kazakhstan) pay for the delivery. But this money is going to the Kazakh government.”

   The water fee Kyrgyz villagers have to pay varies depending on the season, the distance and volume of water used. A typical example would be that of cotton and corn farmer Azamat Kasymov’s case. The farmer from Massy in Jalal-Abad province has fields near the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. A farmer like Kasymov, who has an average monthly income of 1,900 to 4,000 soms (50 to 100 dollars), is required to pay about 2,000 to 2,500 soms (60 to 80 dollars) annually for his water consumption.

   “Why should I pay for water? I see Uzbek fields from my own fields. My neighbours do not pay their own state for water. International organisations and local non-government organisations help us to build channels and bridges, and bore wells, but our government does nothing but take (our) payment,” an indignant Kasymov told AWW. Apart from corn and cotton, Kyrgyz fields also yield wheat, rye, rice, barley and tobacco.

   He urged the Kyrgyz government to demand water payment from Uzbekistan. This money, he said, should be spent for the repair and maintenance of water infrastructure, the construction and clearing of water channels and sluices, and the building of water treatment facilities and water pipes in the villages.

   A few years ago, the Institute of Water Problems and Water-Power Engineering of Kyrgryz National Academy of Sciences led by academic Dushen Mamatkanov determined the cost generated by the use of water in the country. Results show that water consumption, at three cents per 1,000 cubic metres, amounted to 83,663,000 dollars in 2001.

   Scientists predict that water costs in Kyrgyzstan will increase up to nine cents by 2010 and one dollar and 23 cents by 2015 per 1,000 cubic metres. With neighbouring countries using up to 22 cubic kilometres of water from the Kyrgyz water reservoir annually, the sum of annual receipts this year is expected to be more than 12 million dollars.

   Political science professor Alexander Knyazev says it is important that the water-and-gas issue be resolved quickly.

   "Presidents and the governments can agree easily. But they do not do it because now water is not only a natural resource. Water is a political tool, " said Knyazev, who teaches at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University in Bishkek. "Officials do not think about the problems of peasants. One day, water can become a big issue of conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.”

   According to Knyazev, water specialists and experts have already discussed the water problem and power balance among Central Asian countries in Tashkent last August.

   “It was a routine session of the interstate commission on creation of a waterpower consortium that, at last, will solve the water problems of the region. However, results of these negotiations are not yet comforting, as there is not an acceptable project,” added Knyazev.

   Kyrgyz prime minister Felix Kulov, however, was quoted by the media that by the end of the year the water-gas problem of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will be resolved. At the moment, discussions in the parliament continue and preparations for a special water commission to visit Tashkent and negotiate with the Uzbek government are being finalised. (END/AWW/EK/LC/061206)