Information Assessment and Exchange for Transboundary Water Management in the Caucasus
Client: U. S. Agency for International Development
Location: Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia)
Period: 2002 – 2003
Project Summary
The Kura-Aras River Basin
Water quantity and quality problems along the Kura-Aras River flowing through the three Caucasus countries lead to serious disputes among the three riparian countries. Riverside Technology, inc. developed and implemented a program for transboundary water resources data collection and exchange.
Project Details
The Kura-Aras River originates in Turkey and flows through Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan to the Caspian Sea. It is the major watercourse in the South Caucasus area and all riparian countries must share its water for multiple uses. Water scarcity, however, is an issue at many points in the river system, and the river is seriously degraded and threatened with agricultural runoff, industrial water discharges, and municipal sewage.
Riverside Technology, inc. (Riverside) has developed and implemented many improved water resources projects worldwide, and was contracted by Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) to develop local capacity for water resources data collection and exchange in the South Caucasus’ Kura-Aras River Basin. All three riparian countries lack basic and reliable water resources data in a modern electronic format.
Riverside helped develop a plan for expanded water resources data monitoring and exchange. The data monitoring and exchange plan outlined national programs for water resources quantity and quality data collection at strategic locations and a regionally focused information management system.
The plan also included a program for educating stakeholders about potential applications of the data and the creation of subsequent services related to the exchange of information.
Riverside recommended developing databases and implementing training programs for the local technicians, while also addressing the longer-term training and absorptive capacity of the local agencies.