Аңдатпа
Purpose. This article analyzes the challenges of implementation of public administration in the sphere of transboundary waters, paying special attention to the activity, influence and effectiveness of Basin Councils and Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation. The study highlights how institutional fragmentation and lack of basin-level jurisdiction diminish the state’s real potential to efficiently control shared water use. Design/methodology/approach. The article employs qualitative doctrinal and institutional analysis. It includes a literature survey of ancient and modern writings on transboundary water law and governance. The tools of comparative, structural-functional and analytical synthesis are used to discover recurrent governance shortcomings and interpret them through the public administration. Findings. The analysis demonstrates that the major challenge is not a lack of legal norms as such, but the insufficient conversion of legal norms into efficient administrative practice. Basin Councils are generally consultative and not operationally decisive, whilst the coordinating role of the Ministry is undermined by overlapping mandates, fragmented competencies, poor monitoring capability and incomplete linkage between discourse at the basin level and binding administrative action. The analysis also shows that the basin level is institutionally weak, yet it is the most appropriate level for integrated management of shared water resources. Originality. The paper contributes to the literature by changing the analytical focus from transboundary water legislation in the abstract to the administrative entities in charge of its implementation. It gives a rigorous analysis of the Ministry–Basin Council interaction as a major institutional matter and introduces a formalized paradigm in transboundary water governance. Keywords: transboundary water, public administration, Basin Council, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.