Community of Practice

The world community has been introducing IWRM principles in most countries of the world for at least three last decades. Over the past decade, the Nexus approach has been introduced along with the IWRM approach. If IWRM has already been incorporated into the national legislation of the CA countries and the principles are being implemented at the river basins, then the concept of Nexus is quite new for the region. There are many questions about the new approach and lots of misunderstanding. Is Nexus a completely new approach, or is it just a new name for the IWRM approach? Do we need to completely change CA legislation for implementation of Nexus approach, or should we just make some additions?

Central Asia is experiencing growing demand for water, food, and energy. But the region’s climate is highly variable and projected to have profound implications for regional water resources. Snowmelt and glacier melt supply much of the spring and summer runoff needed for the agriculture growing season. Increasing temperatures and shifting patterns of precipitation are accelerating glacier melt and reducing snowpack. The combination of these climatic and hydrological changes will add considerable uncertainty for the successful management of water resources.