ABSTRACT
The Amudarya River flows for 2540km from the Pamir Mountains through the Turan lowlands to the Aral Sea (see Figure 9.1). Its runoff of approximately 79km3 is generated by glacier and snowmelt in the high mountain areas of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Most water resources are used for irrigated cotton and wheat production in the semi-arid downstream areas of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Water is a strategic and vital resource for the region’s economies with agriculture accounting for approximately 30 per cent of national GDPs. Hence, water management is largely governed by the priorities of agricultural production. This increasingly leads to conflicts with the needs of other users such as hydropower generation and the fisheries in the floodplains of the river delta.
