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17.1 Introduction
The chapters of this book have given an insight into various aspects of major water
engineering projects (MWEPs) and the infl uence of water technologies on societies
and natural resources. The key question asked was to which extent MWEPs may
support the effi cient and sustainable management of water and land resources.
Directly linked to this overarching question are refl ections on the extent to which
such projects generate serious environmental, economic, and social changes, on
how MWEPs contribute to the creation of path dependencies and on how such
dependencies can be resolved (Moss and Dobner 2015 , in this volume). The political component of MWEPs, particularly considerations of the problems related to
transboundary water management, has been another important focus.
We have tried to address these questions from two general perspectives: The
main aim for the Fergana Valley was to analyse the current and future impacts of the
decisions made in the past. For the Lower Jordan Basin and the Red Sea–Dead Sea
(RSDS) Conveyance Project, the main goal was to assess future options for action
and to determine the conditions for their implementation.
The results from the two case studies do neither allow to draw general conclusions about the complexity of MWEPs nor to simply transfer the results obtained
from these two regions to MWEPs globally. Nevertheless, we were able to put the
two case studies into a broader context by a comprehensive literature search and to
put emphasis on the general political, social and ecological processes associated
with such projects. It allowed to identify transferable results and to formulate principal lessons learned from the analysis of these case studies.
For the cross-analysis of the case studies, we also refer to the evaluation framework and the considerations outlined in Chap. 3 (Bismuth et al. 2015a , in this volume). Comparing the two case studies enabled to draw general conclusions and
recommendations from four different points of view: (1) from the perspective of
international and transboundary water management, (2) from the perspective of the
observed planning processes, (3) from institutional and governance-based viewpoints, and fi nally (4) from the perspective of “coupled socioecological systems”.
Before we present this overarching analysis, we want to highlight and summarise the most important fi ndings from both the Fergana Valley and the Lower
Jordan Basin.
17.2 The Fergana Valley
As in other regions of Central Asia, the legacy of Russian colonisation and the Soviet
Union has had a signifi cant infl uence on the current water and irrigation management system in the Fergana Valley. This also applies to the ways decisions are made
and the present political systems, economies and societies in the region are shaped.
MWEPs, i.e. irrigation infrastructures, have led to path dependencies. This legacy
17 Lessons Learnt, Open Research Questions and Recommendations
17.1 Introduction
The chapters of this book have given an insight into various aspects of major water
engineering projects (MWEPs) and the infl uence of water technologies on societies
and natural resources. The key question asked was to which extent MWEPs may
support the effi cient and sustainable management of water and land resources.
Directly linked to this overarching question are refl ections on the extent to which
such projects generate serious environmental, economic, and social changes, on
how MWEPs contribute to the creation of path dependencies and on how such
dependencies can be resolved (Moss and Dobner 2015 , in this volume). The political component of MWEPs, particularly considerations of the problems related to
transboundary water management, has been another important focus.
We have tried to address these questions from two general perspectives: The
main aim for the Fergana Valley was to analyse the current and future impacts of the
decisions made in the past. For the Lower Jordan Basin and the Red Sea–Dead Sea
(RSDS) Conveyance Project, the main goal was to assess future options for action
and to determine the conditions for their implementation.
The results from the two case studies do neither allow to draw general conclusions about the complexity of MWEPs nor to simply transfer the results obtained
from these two regions to MWEPs globally. Nevertheless, we were able to put the
two case studies into a broader context by a comprehensive literature search and to
put emphasis on the general political, social and ecological processes associated
with such projects. It allowed to identify transferable results and to formulate principal lessons learned from the analysis of these case studies.
For the cross-analysis of the case studies, we also refer to the evaluation framework and the considerations outlined in Chap. 3 (Bismuth et al. 2015a , in this volume). Comparing the two case studies enabled to draw general conclusions and
recommendations from four different points of view: (1) from the perspective of
international and transboundary water management, (2) from the perspective of the
observed planning processes, (3) from institutional and governance-based viewpoints, and fi nally (4) from the perspective of “coupled socioecological systems”.
Before we present this overarching analysis, we want to highlight and summarise the most important fi ndings from both the Fergana Valley and the Lower
Jordan Basin.
17.2 The Fergana Valley
As in other regions of Central Asia, the legacy of Russian colonisation and the Soviet
Union has had a signifi cant infl uence on the current water and irrigation management system in the Fergana Valley. This also applies to the ways decisions are made
and the present political systems, economies and societies in the region are shaped.
MWEPs, i.e. irrigation infrastructures, have led to path dependencies. This legacy
17 Lessons Learnt, Open Research Questions and Recommendations