107
stability of water delivery in South Fergana and improve allocation between
upstream and downstream users, thereby dramatically reducing the number of confl icts between canal administrations and WUAs, between WUAs and between
WUAs and farmers (Dukhovny et al. 2013 ). They concede, however, that the IWRM
Fergana project did not pay suffi cient attention to issues of governance, ecology and
climate change (Dukhovny et al. 2014 ). The IWRM Fergana project can be credited,
though, with setting an important example of what can be changed with the necessary political will and fi nancial resources.
Parallel to these transformative factors, the irrigation system of the Fergana
Valley is characterised by multiple dimensions of path dependency. First, and visually most obvious, is the path dependency of the physical infrastructures which
transport water from massive reservoirs upstream to individual farms in the valley.
This complex and hierarchical network of rivers, reservoirs, weirs, major canals,
sub-canals, pipes, valves and furrows has been built up over the past 70 years and is
deeply embedded – literally and metaphorically – in the landscape of the Fergana
Valley. Its physical existence and size alone limits the options for using water in the
region because alternative distribution systems of such dimensions are simply not
viable. For example, the existing irrigation system is proving ill-equipped to adapt
to the increasing diversity of crops beyond cotton, such as rice, wheat and vegetables, which each require different irrigation regimes (Abdullaev et al. 2010 ).
Alterations to the infrastructure system do not challenge its underlying logic of
securing adequate water supply for agriculture, but merely equip it to meet new
challenges and adapt to technological advances. The automated management system at Ush Qoron is an illustration of how a major weir used for directing water
along different canals has been upgraded constantly since the 1970s to address shifting demands and respond to unpredictable water restrictions from the upstream
Toktogul reservoir in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The second dimension of path dependency relates to organisational procedures of
water allocation. Water for irrigation is distributed, as during Soviet times, according
to a central planning system. Data on water needs may be collected at the local level
and fed up the system hierarchy, but it is the transnational ICWC which determines
overall water quotas for the riparian states. These are then passed down the multilevel structure of the water bureaucracy, from the national Ministry of Agriculture
and Water Resources, via the Central Water Management Administration, the 10
basin irrigation authorities, the 63 irrigation system authorities and main canal organisations down to the WUAs and the farmers (Dukhovny et al. 2013 ). This system
allows for continuous intervention by national water authorities in water allocation at
subordinate levels, not only under “normal” circumstances but also in emergency
situations of water shortage when, for instance, a basin irrigation organisation can set
limits to the production of cotton and wheat or prohibit a second harvest (Dukhovny
et al. 2013 ). Such emergency measures are unusual in that they are a rare example of
water management taking a priority over agricultural production.
The top-down procedure for allocating water for irrigation is indicative of more
deep-rooted, institutional dimensions of path dependency of water management
institutions in Uzbekistan and Central Asia generally (Sehring 2009 ; Abdullaev
et al. 2009 , 2010 ). Soviet and even pre-Soviet patterns of behaviour, professional
8 Between Multiple Transformations and Systemic Path Dependencies
stability of water delivery in South Fergana and improve allocation between
upstream and downstream users, thereby dramatically reducing the number of confl icts between canal administrations and WUAs, between WUAs and between
WUAs and farmers (Dukhovny et al. 2013 ). They concede, however, that the IWRM
Fergana project did not pay suffi cient attention to issues of governance, ecology and
climate change (Dukhovny et al. 2014 ). The IWRM Fergana project can be credited,
though, with setting an important example of what can be changed with the necessary political will and fi nancial resources.
Parallel to these transformative factors, the irrigation system of the Fergana
Valley is characterised by multiple dimensions of path dependency. First, and visually most obvious, is the path dependency of the physical infrastructures which
transport water from massive reservoirs upstream to individual farms in the valley.
This complex and hierarchical network of rivers, reservoirs, weirs, major canals,
sub-canals, pipes, valves and furrows has been built up over the past 70 years and is
deeply embedded – literally and metaphorically – in the landscape of the Fergana
Valley. Its physical existence and size alone limits the options for using water in the
region because alternative distribution systems of such dimensions are simply not
viable. For example, the existing irrigation system is proving ill-equipped to adapt
to the increasing diversity of crops beyond cotton, such as rice, wheat and vegetables, which each require different irrigation regimes (Abdullaev et al. 2010 ).
Alterations to the infrastructure system do not challenge its underlying logic of
securing adequate water supply for agriculture, but merely equip it to meet new
challenges and adapt to technological advances. The automated management system at Ush Qoron is an illustration of how a major weir used for directing water
along different canals has been upgraded constantly since the 1970s to address shifting demands and respond to unpredictable water restrictions from the upstream
Toktogul reservoir in the Kyrgyz Republic.
The second dimension of path dependency relates to organisational procedures of
water allocation. Water for irrigation is distributed, as during Soviet times, according
to a central planning system. Data on water needs may be collected at the local level
and fed up the system hierarchy, but it is the transnational ICWC which determines
overall water quotas for the riparian states. These are then passed down the multilevel structure of the water bureaucracy, from the national Ministry of Agriculture
and Water Resources, via the Central Water Management Administration, the 10
basin irrigation authorities, the 63 irrigation system authorities and main canal organisations down to the WUAs and the farmers (Dukhovny et al. 2013 ). This system
allows for continuous intervention by national water authorities in water allocation at
subordinate levels, not only under “normal” circumstances but also in emergency
situations of water shortage when, for instance, a basin irrigation organisation can set
limits to the production of cotton and wheat or prohibit a second harvest (Dukhovny
et al. 2013 ). Such emergency measures are unusual in that they are a rare example of
water management taking a priority over agricultural production.
The top-down procedure for allocating water for irrigation is indicative of more
deep-rooted, institutional dimensions of path dependency of water management
institutions in Uzbekistan and Central Asia generally (Sehring 2009 ; Abdullaev
et al. 2009 , 2010 ). Soviet and even pre-Soviet patterns of behaviour, professional
8 Between Multiple Transformations and Systemic Path Dependencies