The Logics of Water Policies in Central Asia

Book excerpt: In the framework of Political Geography of Water, this book examines the logics of water policies implementation in the Central Asian region. Reflecting on the relations between political power, water policies and the hydraulic territories, it analyzes the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) implementation - the global water paradigm promoted by the development organizations since the 1990s - its logics and rationales, in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the basin / local level. Based on detailed, actor-oriented and comparative field-research in two river basins, the main findings highlight how the IWRM implementation was reconfigured by the two states in order to pursue specific socio-political strategies, in contradiction with the paradigm's aims and the narratives of international development.