The Water-energy Puzzle in Central Asia Respondus - Book Report/Review Example

Whereas irrigation was used for the past 2000 years, it was only during the era of Soviet regime; water was taken away from the river on a huge scale through a wide irrigation setup such as diversion dams, canals and pumping stations to support the irrigated farming of cotton, fruits and vegetables. In these dry regions of the Central Asia; farming of such crops is potential only with irrigation (Pannier, Pg 1). Many of the crops are planted during the warmer time in April to September, frequently known to as the plant life season.

The only exclusion is winter wheat, which is commonly spread in October or November and reaped, in the 2nd quarter of the year. The era from October to March is icy and is known to as the non-vegetation season. Genesis of the Problem Through the downfall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as sovereign countries, the operational government of the Toktogul basin became a global problem, as the urgencies and countrywide interests of the new states were not always compatible and were frequently problematic to resolve.

The supply of water and energy resources between these countries was very uneven. Whereas the upstream countries of the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan had a lot of hydroelectric potential, they had slight by way of fossil fuel energy. For the downstream states the opposite was the situation (Pannier, Pg 2). In addition, with the downfall of the Soviet Union, the costs of traded products like coal, oil and natural gas rapidly went up to international levels, whereas the cost of electricity produced by government owned controls remained affectedly low.

In addition, the fossil fuels were exchanged in hard moneys only. Under these conditions the maintenance of the irrigation era of the operation of the Toktogul basin, involved the Kyrgyz State producing electricity far in surplus of its requirements in summer and encountering serious scarcities for power and heat in winter when its energy requirements were considerably higher than in summer. Winter energy demand developed much quicker than in the Soviet days as the customers changed to electric heating.

The state was seriously deprived since it only could not have enough money to pay the higher fees (and, particularly, in hard money) and import sufficient of fossil fuels for its winter requirements. Solutions For water and energy puzzle to be solved in centrals Asia, development of infrastructure should be a priority to compete and survive in the market world. It is also paramount for central Asia to ensure that the water and energy puzzle project has embraced current technology and they are ready to incorporate all the strategies they are using with the technology.

This is because technology will help this puzzle to be solved at faster rate and its implementation will be quite simple. The aim of the project is to solve the puzzle by establishing alternative sources of energy. For the puzzle to be solved, every stakeholder should put in his efforts including all the citizens. Every person should take their responsibility very seriously without watching how the other people are working. It is very crucial to look for contractors and architects who are highly qualified and have experience.

This is because