Economic, Environmental, and Political Aspects of Hydropower Infrastructure Expansion in Central Asia

political, economic, and environmental concerns. Many of these issues are closely intertwined, having tremendous influence on regional development. In particular, the issue of water management has become inordinately acute since the break up of the Soviet Union. In the USSR, the water and irrigation systems were managed by a centralized agency, the Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water Resources, based in Moscow. While the dilemma of water distribution existed in the past, the Moscow elite served as a final and single arbiter in water allocation and management. In recent years, the demise of the Soviet Union and the subsequent independence movements have aggravated problems surrounding water resource allocation. Given the fact that agriculture still remains the major sector in local economies, adequate access to water is crucial for all republics. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the issue of effective water management in Central Asia has become significant not only for economic development, but for regional security as well. A project scientist at Columbia University, Marc Levy, argues that “for any environmental threat to be a security threat, there must be some demonstrable connection to some vital national interest.”1 Central Asia is a prime example of such a conflict. The region’s two major rivers – the Amu Darya and Syr Darya –suppl