Assessment of Water Quality of the Trans-Boundary Zarafshan River in the Territory of Uzbekistan

The Zarafshan river is a main trans-boundary river of the Aral Seabasin. As the main water resource, the Zarafshan river water is mainly used by the republics ofTajikistanandUzbekistan. We explored the trends of space-time pollution of river water with ammonium, nitrates, phosphates, biological oxygen demand (ВОD), fluorine and some heavy metals at seven water sampling points along theZarafshanRiver inUzbekistan. The experimental data showed that the water quality of the Zarafshanriver in 2002-2009 has undergone a considerable transformation, even by the length of the river. The chemical composition of the Zarafshan river water underwent changes due to the agricultural collector-drainage discharges and the sewage of the cities of Samarkand and Navoi. The water pollutants of the Zarafshan river, as a con- sequence of the agricultural pollution, consisted of mineralization, ammonium, nitrate, phosphate, and pesticides. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the chemical composition of the large agricultural collector-drainage discharges into the river. The main sources of the heavy metals (primarily arsenic and zinc) in the Zarafshan river water were probably ore processing manufactures located interritoryofTajikistan.

Processes and trends of the land use change in Aksu watershed in the central Asia from 1960 to 2008

Land use change (LUC) in trans-boundary watersheds is of great importance to environmental assessment. The Aksu River is the largest trans-boundary river crossing Kyrgyzstan and China,but there was little information on the LUC of the watershed. We quantitatively investigated the processes and trends of its LUC by using analytic models based on the land use data derived from the remote sensing images and topographic maps. The LUC was in the quasi-balanced status with a slight difference between the loss and the gain of the area for most land use types during the period of 1960-1990,whereas transferred to the unbalanced status with significant difference between the loss and gain of the area during the period of 1990-2008. At the same time,land conversion direction changed from two-way transition to one-way transition for the most land use types. The integrated rate of net change of land use during the period of 1990-2008 is 2.1 times of that during the period of 1960-1990. Information on the processes and trends of LUC is valuable for better understanding the environmental changes across the whole trans-boundary watershed,and helpful to decision-making management for Kyrgyzstan and China.

The Dilemma of the Nile Transboundary Water and the Way Forward

The NB （Nile River Basin） is considered one of the most population lives in its riparian countries. Out of the latter about 50% live important basins in Africa, as over 33% of the African in the NB. In this paper a historical background on the NB cooperation evolvement including the recent NBI （NB Initiative） is briefly reported. The natural and human challenges facing the Nile water management are examined and discussed. The present dilemma among the Nile riparian countries is highlighted and its reasons are explained. The latter includes the NB CFA （Cooperative Framework Agreement）, which has been signed by six countries （Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda） while rejected by Egypt, Sudan and not signed by DR of Congo. Eretria and the newly established country ＂South Sudan＂ stands are not yet clear. Based on scientific methodology and analytical discussion, a number of solutions for better management of the trans-boundary Nile waters are drawn; taking into consideration the experiences of other international rivers shared basins. Finally, the paper concludes with recommendations and guidelines that may help in the way forward.

Cascading adaptation of rural livelihood to changing environment:Conceptual framework and experiment from the Koshi River basin

Rural communities in the Koshi River basin,a trans-boundary river basin in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas,have been experiencing unprecedented difficulties for adapting with the livelihood challenges arising from floods,droughts and other climatic,environmental and socio-economic stresses.The single purpose adaptation approach often fails to address the multiple challenges arises from cascading effects of climate change at different scales and stages.To fill this gap,we developed a multi-dimensional flexible adaptation framework looking at the four dimensions of adaptation,structure,issue,time,and space(SITS).The SITS framework provides a comprehensive approach for cascading adaptation at trans-boundary river basin level and it could effectively enhance the adaptive capacity and transform livelihood outcome if properly implemented.Following the SITS framework,we examined four cascading adaptation pathways for:i)reducing disaster stressors on livelihoods,ii)enhancing access to crucial livelihood capitals,iii)improving equal rights to livelihood,and iv)strengthening synergies and exploiting complementarities at trans-boundary river basin level.The findings revealed that in the context of changing climate,it is necessary to employ different livelihood adaptation strategies and multiple responses simultaneously or sequentially to successfully adapt to the cascading effects of changing climate.The cascading adaptation may provide a sound basis on which to cope with the climate uncertainty through realistic scenarios of structure,issue,time and space.Its implementation,however,has several obstacles,for example,differences in national system,investment capacity,complexity of trans-boundary basin,remained particularly in trans-boundary river basin where managing transnational trade-offs and harness spatial synergies are critically important.