Presented at Irrigated agriculture responds to water use challenges - strategies for success: USCID water management conference held on April 3-6, 2012 in Austin, Texas.Includes bibliographical references.Water sector during the soviet period has been protected from the financial and political uncertainties due to overwhelming state presence in the sector. The firm trademark of Soviet water management was technology-technical oriented, hierarchical institutions in the sector which are centrally controlled by communist party and water sector ministries. Ideological and political protectionist policies of the soviet government have been crucial on shaping water sector policies. The water management decisions at the different levels were not contested by any of involved parties (different republics, sectors, territories) due to integrated economic structure and strong presence of the state in everyday politics, including in water management. However, collapse of the Soviet Union has brought many uncertainties, political and economical changes, and decline in social infrastructure into former republics. The water sector became playground for multiple actors at the different levels and arenas, making water management a socio-political process. This paper is an attempt to describe how three different dimensions of water management in Central Asia are interacting and shaping each other: local, national and inter-state
