Publication Name

Environment and Security

ENVSEC CASE STUDY

Floods in the Spitamen district, Tajikistan

During the ENVSEC field-mission assessments in September

and December 2004, the authorities in the Spitamen district,

in Tajikistan’s Sogd province, mentioned that floods by the

river Aksu, which forms in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, regularly

endanger Tajik arable land downstream and villages along

the river.

The sudden release of water is thought to be linked to the

development of more than 1,000 hectares of rice paddies on

higher ground in Kyrgyzstan. The local authorities pointed

out the lack of a proper drainage infrastructure (the existing

infrastructure was not designed to handle the extra flow) and

inadequate control by the Kyrgyz authorities, allegedly unable

to enforce proper construction standards and to influence

the choice of cultivated crops by the local population. Plans

for a dam to protect Tajik land from excess water have been

discussed.

However local water experts suggest that increased water

levels in spring in recent years may also be due to the in-

creased and rapid ice and snow melt caused by a warmer

climate in the highland watersheds. Spitamen is still a security

issue, because the Tajik communities are convinced upstream

Kyrgyz communities are responsible for the flooding.

Source: ENVSEC field visits - Natural Resources Track

In the period since independence the lack of funds and a

clear picture of responsibility for maintaining the system

led to gradual degradation of the existing irrigation and

drainage infrastructure. The result is further damage to the

soil and loss of top quality arable land.

Finally, in the period following independence, new land

was allocated to production in response to the pressure

of population growth. The newly developed land is often in

marginal areas, notably the slopes of Kyrgyz border prov-

inces (Batken, Osh, Jalal-Abad). The land is often irrigated

Ferghana

Osh

Khujand

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