Uzbekistan's goal is to provide all irrigated lands with water–saving technologies by 2030.

Uzbekistan's goal is to provide all irrigated lands with water–saving technologies by 2030.

Ten years ago, during meetings with international experts, an alarming question was discussed: how will climate change, reduced precipitation and the melting of centuries-old glaciers affect Central Asia? It was predicted that by 2025, the region's water resources could decrease by five percent, and by 2030 - by 10, and the population would experience water shortages. The President of Uzbekistan has set the most important task for the water management system - to provide the people with water and fill its deficit caused by climate change and other factors. Thanks to the implemented measures, seven billion cubic meters of water were saved in 2023 and eight billion cubic meters in 2024. In 2025, this figure should reach 10 billion cubic meters. This corresponds to the volume of water that was previously predicted to be in short supply. By 2030, it is planned to save up to 15 billion cubic meters annually. Once upon a time, in Nukus, because of groundwater and salts on the roadsides, even grass hardly grew, not to mention flowers. At the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan, concreting of the Dustlik canal passing through the city began in 2017. The phased construction of the Nukus collector has started. And in a short period of time, tangible results were achieved: water filtration in the canal decreased, and the groundwater level dropped. Today you will not recognize the streets of Nukus, fragrant with flowers. Previously, due to the excessive rise of groundwater in Gulistan, even the question of moving the administrative center of the Syrdarya region to the city of Yangier was considered. The country's leader took personal control of the problem, and the necessary funds were found. As a result of the reconstruction and concreting of the canal passing through Gulistan, water filtration has decreased, vertical drainage wells have been built, irrigation and reclamation works have been carried out, and the groundwater level has noticeably decreased. And there are many such examples. In Urgench, thanks to the concreting of the Shovot canal, as well as in the almost swampy Naryn district, long-standing problems associated with high groundwater levels have been solved through the construction of vertical wells. At the initiative of the President of the country, large investments are attracted in the field of water management. With the participation of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Toshsoka canal system in the Khorezm region is being modernized; canals in the Ferghana Valley are being reconstructed at the expense of the World Bank, canals in the Bukhara region thanks to cooperation with the Asian Development Bank, and the IDB loans in the Surkhandarya region. As a result, the groundwater level in these regions decreased by 0.3-0.5 meters compared to the long-term average, and the efficiency of the channels increased significantly. The main thing is that the water supply to irrigated lands has improved. Thousands of small pumping stations are no longer needed in many places, as water now flows by gravity. This saved electricity and operating costs. On November 29, 2023, at a video conference on measures for the rational use of water resources and reducing their losses, the head of state emphasized the need for concreting canals and ditches. According to calculations, about 14 billion cubic meters of water (36 percent) are lost annually in irrigation systems with natural cover without any economic benefit. That is why 2024 was declared the shock year for concreting canals in the water sector. 676.7 billion soums were allocated from the State budget for the reconstruction of 555 km of canals. Clusters and farms have been put in order and 13.5 thousand kilometers of internal irrigation networks have been concreted. These are not just dry numbers. They are followed by the well-being of the people and abundance in every dastarkhan. More recently, there was an erroneous opinion that drip irrigation is not suitable for the conditions of Uzbekistan and in our hot climate, the traditional method of irrigation by furrows is the most optimal. Nevertheless, of the 4.3 million hectares of irrigated land, about half have been covered by water-saving technologies over the past seven years. In support of this policy, seven decrees and resolutions of the President of Uzbekistan have been issued during this period, stimulating the introduction and development of water-saving solutions. Previously, the equipment and its components were imported from abroad. In 2019, there were only two or three enterprises dealing with such technologies in the country. Today there are more than 60 of them. Localization of production has reduced production costs by 20 percent per hectare, as well as provided on-site service. In 2024 alone, 2.5 billion cubic meters of water were saved through the use of water-saving technologies. If it weren't for the demands of the head of state and for loans and subsidies, we might still continue to reassure ourselves that certain types of water-saving technologies allegedly do not meet our conditions. We have an ambitious goal - to provide all irrigated lands of the republic with water-saving technologies by 2030. There are only a few years left to reach this figure. Uzbekistan is an initiator in the implementation of water-saving technologies and the use of modern methods of water resources management among the countries of the region. "We urge you to join forces and launch a regional program to introduce water-saving technologies in Central Asia," said the President of our country, speaking at the Samarkand International Climate Forum. By the way, thanks to the created conditions, a new movement has emerged among advanced domestic farmers this year: an increasing number of farms are switching to solar panels in order to use water-saving technologies. Frankly speaking, about 70 percent of all budget funds allocated to the water sector are spent on electricity, which is almost seven billion kWh used to operate about 1,700 pumping stations. Thanks to the measures taken, consumption amounted to 8.3 billion kWh in 2017, and decreased to 6.5 billion kWh in 2024. At a video conference on measures for the rational use of water and energy resources, as well as reducing losses in agriculture, held on November 7, 2024, the head of state emphasized that in recent years, large pumping stations such as Karshinskaya, Amu-Bukharskaya and Amu-Zangskaya have been modernized with funds in the amount of one billion dollars. However, due to the deterioration of medium and small pumps, the cost of water continues to rise. Taking into account such problems, the next tasks were identified during the meeting. And 2025 has been declared the Year of Increasing the Efficiency of pumping stations in the water sector. As the President of the country noted, digitalization is the only way to make fundamental changes in the field: it ensures transparency, accuracy and prevents corruption. Taking into account the tasks outlined in the Strategy "Uzbekistan - 2030" and the Concept of development of the water sector of the Republic of Uzbekistan on In the years 2020-2030, extensive work has been done in the field of digitalization of water management and a number of technological solutions have been implemented. For example, "Smart Water" systems have been installed to monitor water resources online at 13,174 water metering stations in reservoirs and irrigation systems; Diver devices have been installed to monitor groundwater levels and soil mineralization at 10,296 reclamation wells; water consumption monitoring devices have been installed at 1,748 pumping stations; 96 large water management facilities have been switched to automatic control. objects. A Water Management Digitalization Center has been established under the Ministry of Water Resources, and information systems Suv hisobi and Nasos stansiyalari have been created. The decree of the President of the country "On priority measures for the implementation of the Program "From Poverty to well-being" dated September 23, 2024, became a vivid example of the state's concern for the people. The document provides for the allocation of 3.2 trillion soums to improve irrigation of household plots, ensure stable electricity supply, improve Internet quality, repair internal roads and modernize other infrastructure in 1,000 of the most needy mahallas. The President of Uzbekistan defends the idea that people should live well not tomorrow, but today. Large-scale projects are being implemented in 2025 as part of the "From Poverty to Prosperity" Program: 1,882 km of irrigation networks worth 1.1 trillion soums were concreted at 864 facilities; 185 km of trough networks, 380 km of pipelines, 818 irrigation wells were built; 421 pumping units were installed. Water supply has been improved on 77.5 thousand hectares of household lands in 467 thousand houses in mahallas with water shortage. Yes, life is not without difficulties. And times are different: sometimes there is not enough water, and sometimes there is an abundance of it. However, the people of Uzbekistan deserve peace and tranquility. Fortunately, he has a leader who thinks about everyone who lives on this earth. It is thanks to the far-sighted policy of the President of the country that we have embarked on the path of sustainable development, and the life of the people is becoming more prosperous from year to year.

Shavkat Khamrayev,

Minister of Water Resources of Uzbekistan.