162
minimal. Furthermore, the non-payment of fees for irrigation services is a major
problem for almost all WUAs in the region, seriously limiting their scope for action
and, thereby, undermining their effectiveness. An attempt in the mid-2000s in the
Bukhara province to price water on a consumption, rather than a per-unit-of- area,
basis failed for political reasons out of fear of protests by the WUA’s members (interview with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation). Experiences such
as this reinforce a technical-managerial approach to the work of WUAs, in which
engineering solutions are applied to what are essentially social problems. Under such
circumstances, it is perhaps not surprising that ecological issues, relating either to
local watercourses and water-based landscapes or the state of the entire river basin,
are not addressed by WUAs at all.
11.3.4 Practices of Education
Several WUAs that are active – in particular those selected as pilots for IWRM
projects – are offering training for their members on how to optimise irrigation
practices. Faced with a large number of new farmers, following land reforms, with
little or no experience of managing crops themselves, many WUAs pursue an educational mission. The WUAs provide information and expertise to their members in
the form of events, brochures, experimental and demonstration sites and advice by
agricultural advisors (see Fig. 11.4 ). Beyond technical knowledge, this educational
programme is intended to encourage greater self-responsibility amongst farmers
accustomed to relying on the state but also to promote greater willingness to pay the
WUAs for the services they provide.
This educational mission does not stop at the boundaries of the WUAs but is a
central feature of irrigation management in post-Soviet Uzbekistan in general and
of the IWRM project in the Fergana Valley in particular. Substantive training programmes for irrigation managers are provided by the Central ICWC Training Centre
in Tashkent, with branches in the provinces of Andijan, Fergana and Khodjent (see
Fig. 11.5 ). Training schemes funded by the IWRM Fergana Valley project provide
extension services at the level of BISAs, ISAs and WUAs, with the active support
of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. They also target the creation of more WUGs in the Fergana Valley. The emphasis placed on scientifi c
knowledge and its application in the fi eld resonates powerfully with Soviet practices
of training irrigation specialists and Soviet imagery of the heroic water engineer
making barren lands fertile in the name of national modernisation.
Nevertheless, these educational schemes have a number of drawbacks. Firstly,
their reliance on project-based funding makes their long-term sustainability questionable. Secondly, they focus largely on technical and managerial issues, offering
little help to practitioners when it comes to dealing with disputes over water allocations, developing an appreciation of environmental impacts and constraints or
exploring economic incentives for water conservation. What is lacking is a multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral and basin-oriented approach to irrigation training. In this
T. Moss and A. Hamidov
minimal. Furthermore, the non-payment of fees for irrigation services is a major
problem for almost all WUAs in the region, seriously limiting their scope for action
and, thereby, undermining their effectiveness. An attempt in the mid-2000s in the
Bukhara province to price water on a consumption, rather than a per-unit-of- area,
basis failed for political reasons out of fear of protests by the WUA’s members (interview with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation). Experiences such
as this reinforce a technical-managerial approach to the work of WUAs, in which
engineering solutions are applied to what are essentially social problems. Under such
circumstances, it is perhaps not surprising that ecological issues, relating either to
local watercourses and water-based landscapes or the state of the entire river basin,
are not addressed by WUAs at all.
11.3.4 Practices of Education
Several WUAs that are active – in particular those selected as pilots for IWRM
projects – are offering training for their members on how to optimise irrigation
practices. Faced with a large number of new farmers, following land reforms, with
little or no experience of managing crops themselves, many WUAs pursue an educational mission. The WUAs provide information and expertise to their members in
the form of events, brochures, experimental and demonstration sites and advice by
agricultural advisors (see Fig. 11.4 ). Beyond technical knowledge, this educational
programme is intended to encourage greater self-responsibility amongst farmers
accustomed to relying on the state but also to promote greater willingness to pay the
WUAs for the services they provide.
This educational mission does not stop at the boundaries of the WUAs but is a
central feature of irrigation management in post-Soviet Uzbekistan in general and
of the IWRM project in the Fergana Valley in particular. Substantive training programmes for irrigation managers are provided by the Central ICWC Training Centre
in Tashkent, with branches in the provinces of Andijan, Fergana and Khodjent (see
Fig. 11.5 ). Training schemes funded by the IWRM Fergana Valley project provide
extension services at the level of BISAs, ISAs and WUAs, with the active support
of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. They also target the creation of more WUGs in the Fergana Valley. The emphasis placed on scientifi c
knowledge and its application in the fi eld resonates powerfully with Soviet practices
of training irrigation specialists and Soviet imagery of the heroic water engineer
making barren lands fertile in the name of national modernisation.
Nevertheless, these educational schemes have a number of drawbacks. Firstly,
their reliance on project-based funding makes their long-term sustainability questionable. Secondly, they focus largely on technical and managerial issues, offering
little help to practitioners when it comes to dealing with disputes over water allocations, developing an appreciation of environmental impacts and constraints or
exploring economic incentives for water conservation. What is lacking is a multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral and basin-oriented approach to irrigation training. In this
T. Moss and A. Hamidov