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WATER POLITICS

Via OOSKA News, a report on some new impact assessment studies for Tajikistan’s proposed Rogun Hydropower Project:

Experts from throughout Central Asia gathered in Almaty, Kazakhstan last week to discuss the findings of impact assessment studies for Tajikistan’s proposed Rogun Hydropower Project.

The studies on the Rogun project are being conducted under the auspices and worth the financial support of the World Bank.

The Rogun hydropower facility’s estimated capacity is 6 billion kilowatt hours per year; the goal is to secure energy independence for Tajikistan as well as providing a boost to other economies in the region, including Afghanistan and Pakistan – the countries there most in most need of electricity. The total estimated cost of the project is $3 billion USD.

However, downstream neighbor Uzbekistan opposes the project, concerned that it will compromise the supply of water it depends on for irrigation.

Tajikistan claims the Uzbek government has attempted to hobble the project by creating problems with railway transport of goods and customs clearance. Dushanbe has also accused Uzbekistan of building dozens of artificial reservoirs that caused the death of the Aral Sea.

Last year, Uzbekistan terminated its supplies of natural gas to Tajikistan, which resulted in shutdown of some industrial enterprises in northern Tajikistan.

At the recent meeting in Almaty, experts reviewed the draft Hydrology Report and the draft Geological Investigations Report – the basis of the Techno-Economic Assessment Study – and discussed updates on seismic findings, Vakhsh River Cascade simulations, site geology, and features of various dam height alternatives.

The studies will continue examining issues related to public safety, dam height options, potential downstream impacts, and the technical and financial viability of the proposed Rogun Dam.

On February 12, more than 55 civil society organizations participated in a video conference on issues of water flows and water management; they also looked at the impact of the climate change on water flows and filling of the proposed reservoir. They also looked at the dam’s effects on biodiversity and protected territories downstream, potential changes in the level of groundwater, resettlement of the affected population, and impact on infrastructure around the proposed project site.

A World Bank news release on February 12 quoted Saroj Kumar Jha, the bank’s Regional Director for Central Asia, as saying: “It is important to clarify again that the Assessment Studies will not decide whether the proposed Rogun dam will be built, they will only serve as an input to decision-making. A variety of other factors such as international agreements and financing would need to be considered before the future of the proposed Rogun project is decided.

He added that “the World Bank has made no financial commitment to support construction of the proposed dam.”

The Tajik and the World Bank unveiled a number of draft documents in English and Russian three weeks before last week’s meeting. These documents and presentations made in Almaty are publicly available on the bank’s website at: www.worldbank.org/eca/rogun.

The next round of riparian information-sharing and consultation meetings is planned for late summer 2013.