OVERVIEW

The Regional Water Management Forum improves regional transboundary water management and promotes sustainable management practices. The forum encourages dialogue on water issues outside high-level intergovernmental channels, particularly among academia and community-level water management organizations. The forum also supports research and improves the water management skills of community technicians, scientists, policymakers, civil society, and local end-users.

ACTIVITIES

The forum includes two activities: The Partnership for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) and Smart Waters. PEER establishes a university-led forum to improve management of shared water resources in Central Asia. The forum supports regional seminars, workshops, and research on transboundary water in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Smart Waters is building a cadre of water managers in Central Asia and Afghanistan to share best practices, collaborate, and manage water resources sustainably. This includes improving water management at the community level by working in small river basins shared between Afghanistan and neighboring countries.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Regional water management capacity building activities provided to more than 1,050 participants from the Afghan Ministry of Energy and Water, the Afghan National Environmental Protection Agency, the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, and Afghan academic institutions.
• Ongoing local and national level basin planning across thirteen small transboundary watersheds of Central Asia and Afghanistan, including the Lower Harirud Basin in Afghanistan.
• Held six biannual regional forums held on cross-border water management and climate change issues, resulting in stronger working relationships among water managers in Central Asia and Afghanistan.
• Scholarships provided to eight Afghan students to earn an integrated water resources management Master of Science at a Central Asian university. Upon graduation, students will return to their respective jobs to apply their new knowledge and skills.
• Awarded eighteen research grants, many of which are published and disseminated broadly, in six regional countries focused on transboundary water and the impacts of climate change.