Chu—Talas Activities

摘要

In January 2000, the Governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic signed the Agreement on Utilization of the Water Facilities of Interstate Use on the Chu and Talas rivers that are shared by both countries. Under the agreement, Kazakhstan has an obligation to reimburse a part of Kyrgyzstan's expenses for operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of a number of dams and reservoirs located on the territory of Kyrgyzstan, but supplying water to Kazakhstan. The Agreement was ratified by parliaments of both countries and came into force in February 2002. With the involvement of the OSCE and other entities a project to implement this agreement was initiated. The project consisted of four main components. The first was to develop the statutes and regulations for the Bilateral Commission on the Chu and Talas rivers. The second component called for allocation of costs for operation, management, and rehabilitation of selected water control projects, or the outlining of the financial viability of the Commission. The third component of the project involved public participation. The final component consisted of a public awareness campaign. With support from the major donors, Great Britain and Sweden, and with additional support from Estonia, OSCE was able to realize significant successes in the Chu—Talas project, even though no comparable cooperative project exists in Central Asia. This project has demonstrated that cooperation can function, and that cooperative agreements of the sort pioneered in this project can and do have significant benefits for all participants.