madam president for the past year i have served as personal representative of the chairman-in-office of the osce kazakhstan preparing a detailed report on the key environmental issues affecting central asia
i have sent you a copy of my report baroness ashton
one of the key issues which affects the whole of central asia is of course the question of transboundary water utilisation
as you know there is great and constant tension between the upstream and downstream nations in central asia involving water use
but one aspect of this problem emerged during the course of my investigation that has i think been missed by many decision makers in the west
the mainstay of the afghan economy is agriculture and any rebuilding of the economy in a post-conflict afghanistan will mean massive investment in agriculture encouraging for example farmers to switch from growing heroin poppies to growing pomegranates
that in turn will mean a huge additional utilisation of already scarce water resources
in other words by helping to resolve the current conflict in afghanistan we could inadvertently create a series of mini-afghanistans downstream as acute water shortages are exacerbated
we must take care to ensure that any new irrigation schemes are properly designed with concrete-lined channels and reservoirs and droplet irrigation systems similar to those used by farmers in spain
in addition any major energy projects involving hydroelectric power plants must be carefully designed and constructed to ensure that they do not create any disadvantage for downstream water users in neighbouring countries
