The Aral Sea Basin: Water for Sustainable Development in Central Asia

by Stefanos Xenarios (Editor), Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt (Editor), Manzoor Qadir (Editor), Barbara Janusz-Pawletta (Editor), Iskandar Abdullaev (Editor)

Overview

This book offers the first multidisciplinary overview of water resources issues and management in the Aral Sea Basin, covering both the Amu Darya and Syr Darya River Basins.

The two main rivers of Amu Darya and Syr Darya and their tributaries comprise the Aral Sea Basin area and are the lifeline for about 70 million inhabitants in Central Asia. Written by regional and international experts, this book critically examines the current state, trends and future of water resources management and development in this major part of the Central Asia region. It brings together insights on the history of water management in the region, surface and groundwater assessment, issues of transboundary water management and environmental degradation and restoration, and an overview of the importance of water for the key economic sectors and overall socio-economic development of Central Asian countries, as well as of hydro politics in the region. The book also focusses on the future of water sector development in the Basin, including a review of local and international actors, as well as an analysis of the current status and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals by Basin countries.

The book will be essential reading for those interested in sea basin management, environmental policy in Central Asia and water resource management more widely. It will also act as a reference source for decision-makers in state agencies, as well as a background source of information for NGOs.

Chapter 8 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780429791062
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/17/2019
Series:	ISSN
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	252
File size:	45 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stefanos Xenarios is Associate Professor in Nazarbayev University (NU), Graduate School of Public Policy, based in Nur-Sultan, Astana, Kazakhstan.

Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt is Honorary Professor at the Chair of Silviculture, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Freiburg University, Germany.

Manzoor Qadir is Assistant Director in United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Barbara Janusz-Pawletta is UNESCO Chair Holder in Water Management at the Central Asia Kazakh-German University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Iskandar Abdullaev is former Executive Director of the Regional Environmental Centre Central Asia (CAREC), based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and the current Deputy Director of the CAREC Institute, Urumchi, China.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Guyzgeldi Bayjanov 1. Introduction 2. History of Water Management in the Aral Sea Basin 3. Surface Water Resources 4. Groundwater resources 5. Hydropower 6. Environmental Degradation 7. Water for Agriculture and other Economic Sectors 8. The Status and Role of the alpine Cryosphere in the Aral Sea Basin 9. Transboundary Water Management 10. Local and national institutions and policies governing water resources management 11. International actors and initiatives for sustainable water management 12. The Future of Water Resources 13. Implementing Water-Related Sustainable Development Goals

Editorial Reviews

"While a lot has been written and said about water management (and mismanagement) in this region before, there is hardly an analogue that brings all these issues under one umbrella. This is essentially the first multidisciplinary volume on the subject… This Book will hopefully become a reference source on the Aral Sea basin for a wide range of stakeholders from different disciplines and professional backgrounds, from within the Central Asia region and internationally." - From the Foreword by Guyzgeldi Bayjanov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea

"While a lot has been written and said about water management (and mismanagement) in this region before, there is hardly an analogue that brings all these issues under one umbrella. This is essentially the first multidisciplinary volume on the subject… This book will hopefully become a reference source on the Aral Sea basin for a wide range of stakeholders from different disciplines and professional backgrounds, from within the Central Asia region and internationally." - From the Foreword by Guyzgeldi Bayjanov, Chairman of the Executive Committee of The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea

From the Publisher