Kyrgyzstan : three-day training course on basin planning and water use permits

In Kyrgyzstan, the impacts of climate change and glacial retreat, combined with growing agricultural, industrial and urban demands, are putting increasing pressure on water resources. Against this backdrop, the Kyrgyz authorities are changing paradigm and have chosen to strengthen their management framework to promote water efficiency and better balance water uses through the implementation of a water permit system.

Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and running from 2023 to 2028, the WUP-KG project is led by OiEau in collaboration with Kyrgyz institutions and its partners (Hydrosolutions and CAREC). It aims to strengthen resource planning, the regulation of water uses, and the monitoring of water quality and available and used volumes.

OiEau’s role is to provide institutional, technical and methodological support to the Kyrgyz authorities. It supports planning at the basin level, the development of the licensing policy, data management and stakeholder engagement.

The training, delivered in partnership with Hydrosolutions and CAREC, forms part of this support: helping the authorities to translate the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management into operational practices.

The first two days were guided by a central principle: a water use licence cannot be assessed in isolation from the situation in the basin. To determine whether a water abstraction can be authorised, and under what conditions, it is necessary to understand the available water resources, existing uses, the needs of ecosystems and anticipated future developments.

The work focused on four complementary dimensions:

• Assessing the available resource. This involves characterising the quantities of water flowing within the basin and their seasonal variations. This knowledge enables decisions to be based on hydrological data.
• Establishing a water use account. Recording water abstractions for irrigation, drinking water supply or industrial use is essential to understanding how the resource is already being used. Identifying their location and quantifying them makes it possible to assess the potential for new uses without compromising existing needs or the balance of natural environments and ecosystems.
• Preserving an ecological flow. Water abstractions for human uses must not jeopardise the long-term viability of aquatic ecosystems. The training therefore addressed the flow levels that need to be maintained and how to incorporate this requirement into abstraction conditions.
• Anticipating the effects of climate change. Medium- and long-term projections enable us to anticipate changes in flow rates and their seasonal distribution. Incorporating these into basin plans should help authorities adapt their decisions in the face of a resource that is likely to diminish or become more variable.

The basin plan provides a common framework for aligning scientific knowledge with administrative decisions and ensuring that authorisations form part of sustainable water management.

On the third day, participants visited the Ala-Archa sub-basin. Three site visits illustrated the links between monitoring water resources, regulating water abstraction and ensuring supply.

1. At the Ala-Archa hydrometeorological station, one of the oldest in the country, they observed how flow and meteorological data are collected in order to understand how the river varies over time.
2. At the Tush Canal water intake, discussions centred on the practical application of a water licence, particularly its legal and technical implications for the exercise of the right to abstract water, the monitoring of volumes abstracted and ecological flow requirements.
3. The visit to the Orto-Alysh groundwater abstraction point, which supplies over 40% of Bishkek’s drinking water, highlighted the interactions between surface water and groundwater and the strategic importance of management decisions in ensuring the capital’s water supply.

These three days build on the capacity-building activities undertaken as part of the project, notably the training session organised in Bishkek in March 2026 on basin-scale governance and management.

Ultimately, the WUP-KG project aims to put effective mechanisms for resource accounting, planning and authorisation into operation at national level.

OiEau would like to thank all participants for their involvement, as well as the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic, Hydrosolutions and CAREC for their collaboration.

OiEau would like to thank the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) for its financial support for the project.