Water Rights in Central Asia and South Asia
January 30, 2008.
/fileadmin/webfiles/downloads/zefnews/Karneval1120.JPG
/fileadmin/webfiles/downloads/zefnews/Karneval1120.JPG The participants exchanged ideas on managed irrigation in the context of ongoing ZEF projects in Afghanistan, India, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Presentations were made by Peter Mollinga of ZEF, Christine Bichsel of the Institute of Geography, University of Berne, Switzerland, Julia Obertreis from the University of Freiburg, Germany, and by Usman Shah of Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, on conceptual, practical, historical and community aspects related to water rights. The fact that speakers shed light on the issue of water rights from their different scientific perspectives, such as geography, history, and sociology, turned out to be a fruitful point of departure for identifying cross-cutting links and gaps for further investigation and research.
A unifying feature of the Central and South Asian region is that the entire area is subject to a variety of dynamics, including economic and population growth as well as socio-political transformations, resulting in conflict potentials. Therefore, challenges related to the governance of water and irrigation, are embedded in other societal processes. Besides stressing the need to bring ecological aspects back into the discussion on irrigation management, the workshop concluded that more research should be done on the role of the state and spatial differences in the determination of access to water. A follow-up workshop on February 15 will take up these questions.
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