Eurasian River Basin Portal

30.10.2017

CAREC shares the expertise on basin planning in Uzbekistan

On October 23-27, 2017 the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) shared its expertise on basin planning within the seminar on “Institutional strengthening and capacity development on improvement of basin plans and tools for basin planning” for representatives of specialized ministries and government agencies of Uzbekistan. The event was organized by German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ) with financial support of Component 1 within European Union (EU) Programme on “National policy framework for water governance and integrated water resources management and supply part”.

On October 23-24, CAREC specialists and national expert held the seminar for representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan (MAWR) and other specialized agencies, such as State Committee on Ecology and Environmental Protection, State Committee on Geology and Mineral Resources, Uzhydromet, Ministry of Health, State Inspectorate “Sanoatgeokontehnazorat” and “Gosvodhoznadzor”, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, State Committee on Land Resources, Geodesy, Cartography and State Cadastre, and Council of Farmers.

On October 26-27, the seminar was haled for the specialists of basin management of irrigation systems (BMIS) from Nijneamudarinskiy, Naryn-Karadarinskiy, Amu-Bukharskiy, Syrdarya-Zarafshanskiy, Amu-Kashakdarinskiy, Nijne-Zarafshanskiy, Naryn-Syrdarinskiy, Zarafshanskiy, Nijnesyrdarinskiy, Syrdarya-Sokhskiy, as well as specialists and directors of irrigation system management of Shakhrikhansayskiy, Yakkabag-Guzarskiy, Khavast-Zaaminskiy, Nartpay-Navoiskiy, Nupalang-Karatagskiy, Chirchik-Akhangaranskiy, and Shavat-Kulavatskiy.

The opening remarks were given by the Deputy Chief of the Main Water Management Department of MAWR Mr. Ravshan Mamutov, Team Leader and GIZ Programme Director Dr. Caroline Milow, and Director of CAREC Branch in Uzbekistan Ms. Shakhnoza Umarova.

Ms. Shakhnoza Umarova emphasized the importance of the seminar in her speech: “This event is the result of joint project between CAREC and GIZ to achieve the main goals of Components 1 and 3 of EU Programme. I am certain that joint work during study days and discussion of the issues will give necessary results and will help gain useful information for further actions”.

As it was mentioned by the MAWR representative, Uzbekistan averagely consumes 51 billion m3 of water per year, 90% of which is for agriculture, 4.7% is for residential and utility sector, 1.6% is for industry, and 3.7% is other. It should be noted that the population has grown and accounts to 32 million people today. Taking into consideration the annual growth of the population, it is quite essential to save water resources. The integrated water resources management (IWRM) defines the efficient and productive approach of use of water resources.

“The basin planning (BP) is the foundation for water management in the countries of European Union and a tool for prevention of floods or draught”, said Dr. Caroline Milow. “In my opinion, it can serve as a practical tool for efficient distribution of water resources between all interested parties in Uzbekistan”.

“The issues of water resources management cover different spheres of life; it is impossible to solve water issues only with the help of water specialists”, mentioned project expert Ms. Ekaterina Strikeleva in her presentation. “Currently, all Central Asian countries move towards introduction of integrated management of water resources. With this approach, the main emphasis is on creating a system of decision-making and planning with involvement of all stakeholders, and the priorities are set for a particular river basin. Our task is to facilitate the introduction of IWRM in Uzbekistan on national and basin levels by using successful practices on basin planning”.

During the seminar participants familiarized with the concept of IWRM and the best international practices, CAREC experience on developing and introduction of BP in small transboundary rivers of Central Asia, elements of IWRM and BP in water legislation of Uzbekistan. CAREC shared the expertise on IWRM and successful basin planning in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. During discussions the participants considered the scheme of complex consumption and protection of water resources, made a comparison of its basic characteristics to BP. They also discussed the Manual on basin planning and training module on making basin plans.

Also, within this project CAREC has made the assessment of legislation of Uzbekistan with the emphasis on IWRM and basin planning, including adaptation of existing methodology to the legislation of the country and development of study module on basin plans.

For detailed information, please, contact Mr. Said Sharipov, Water Initiative Support Program Specialist CAREC – ssharipov@carececo.org.