Degree of Master of

Regional cooperation between republics

Regional cooperation between the republics, namely between Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, is the first criterion defined for the scenarios. Generally speaking, this criterion has been selected because nowadays the interstate relationships between the republics concerned determine the development of many environmental aspects in the whole
region, such as distribution of water resources between the republics, and development of legislative environmental base.
Regional cooperation between the republics is examined from two positions:

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  Regional cooperation between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan; In the context of the Aydar-Arnasay lakes development regional cooperation between the republics in question principally focuses on the amount of water discharges from the Chardara reservoir located in Kazakhstan; Based on the previous research chapters we know that today there is no coordinated water policy between the countries to determine the exact amount of water discharges from the Chardara to the AALS and to the downstream Syrdarya. Current unsteady water discharges from the Chardara which is the main feed source of the Aydar-Arnasay lakes cause the gradual alteration of the hydrological regime of the lakes, aggravation of the ecological situation, including growth of mineralization and deterioration of the fish industry. Therefore, consideration of the relationships between these republics seems necessary.
  
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  CEU eTD Collection
  Regional cooperation from the perspective of Kyrgyzstan; Interstate relationship with Kyrgyzstan is a particular question which should not be excluded from the present analysis. The main reason relates to the situation in the Toktogul Reservoir operation. As it was described in the literature review and then in the research chapters, transferring the Toktogul Reservoir to a power-focused regime based on huge amounts of water releases during the non-growing period changed the relationships with downstream countries, i.e. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. At present, they experience a lack of water resources during the growing periods. Moreover, the fate of the Aydar-Arnasay lakes directly depends on the Kyrgyz position regarding water releases from the Toktogul. Therefore, the analysis of the relationships between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan is necessary for the elaboration of the water management scenarios.
  

It has been decided by the author that regional cooperation as one of the basic criteria for the elaboration of the water management scenarios will be expressed by the water discharges in the conceptual model. The quantitative description of the water discharges depending on the level of regional cooperation will be introduced in the section on model simulation.