Water Management in Mongolia

Abstract: The world experiences large-scale ecosystems degradation in an every part of the planet - in rich as well as in and poor parts. Unstable economic conditions together with weak law enforcements make low income countries face more severe forms of natural destruction. This draws the attention on the need to design economic policies that are environmentally sound and while at the same time ensuring the well-being of their inhabitants in economic, social and natural settings. A number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia have experienced a unique historical period of transition from communist regimes to free democratic societies. This has been followed by numerous effects on their financial situations as economic hardships caused by the collapse of economies injected by the assistance from the Soviet and committees of socialist countries mutually aiding each other, opening up of opportunities as private ownership and market liberations. Not all countries succeeded in liberalizing their economic structures and reforming economic and political environments. Simultaneously, the natural environment underwent various effects, both positive and negative, after the Iron Curtain fell and exposed destructing effects of command and control economy. Mongolia has experienced all the hard aspects of the transition and started to climb up on the income ladder from the low income to the lower middle-income list of the World Bank, but also seen many negative price aspects of development. Water resources have been severely degraded in recent years due to anthropogenic impact. However, there are reforms taking place in water sector institutions that have recently attracted wide attention nationwide.This thesis will give detailed picture on current state of water resources in the country and the system that coordinates them. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is used as an approach to highlight the relationship between water resource quality and income per capita in Mongolia. This is followed by a detailed discussion on water institutions development and the coordinating mechanisms badly needed among sectors involved. The research suggests that collaborative actions are important if sustainable water management is to be reached. More generally, I recommend further research issues on the generated topic as my thesis is one of the first discussions coupling the EKC and institutional theory aspects together.