Regional Cooperation in Transboundary Water Resources Management in Central Asia: Hybrid Forms of Institutional and Political Interaction

Abstract

This article examines regional cooperation in transboundary water resource management in Central Asia from a hybrid governance perspective. The study aims to identify the institutional, political, and functional limitations of the existing model of water resource interaction between states in the region and to identify prospects for developing more sustainable and hybrid mechanisms for regional water resource management. The study employs a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach, incorporating comparative analysis, institutional analysis, a systems approach, elements of international regime theory, the concept of hydro-hegemony, and approaches to governance based on nexus and hybrid models. The focus is placed on the interaction between formal institutions, political agreements, technical coordination, compensation mechanisms, and international support in the absence of a supranational regulator authority. Based on a qualitative institutional and political analysis, the study examines three cases: the multilateral regime of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, the Chu-Talas mechanism between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and water and energy interaction in the Syr Darya River basin. The article demonstrates that the regional water architecture cannot be reduced either to a weak international regime or to a set of ad hoc agreements. Rather, it is a multi-level system in which formal rules are combined with technical procedures, political negotiations, and adaptation to water, energy, agricultural, climatic, and environmental constraints. The article concludes that, in the context of growing water scarcity and climate uncertainty, it is necessary to enhance the predictability of existing mechanisms, ensure greater transparency in data exchange, strengthen institutional coherence, and the environmental focus of regional water governance.

Keywords: transboundary water resources, Central Asia, hybrid governance, water-energy nexus, ICWC, IFAS, Chu-Talas mechanism, Syr Darya.