Water Diplomacy of Central Asia

Water scarcity is becoming an increasingly pressing issue not only in Uzbekistan but also around the world. Climate change, the ongoing environmental crisis, and situations that are beyond nature’s control are raising the value of life-giving moisture and requiring conscious, targeted actions for its conservation. Therefore, countries, the international community, and respected international organizations are developing specific measures aimed at preserving this vital resource. It is necessary to take the required steps today to see significant results tomorrow.

By 2030, the water deficit in Uzbekistan could reach 15 billion cubic meters. The majority of water resources come to us from neighboring countries. Depending on the amount of annual precipitation, only 15-20 percent of water is formed within our country. For several years, the volume of water in both large and small rivers and streams has been decreasing due to reduced precipitation in the region. This can easily be seen from the fact that instead of the annual 60-64 billion cubic meters once used in the republic, water supply has now dropped to 51-53 billion cubic meters.

At the same time, in recent years, thanks to the wise and pragmatic policy of our country’s leadership, the management of transboundary water resources between countries in the region has been carried out based on good-neighborliness and mutual respect for each other's interests. This has allowed for the easy resolution of long-standing problems in the sector.

Active bilateral and multilateral cooperation on integrated water resource management, joint use of transboundary waters, and interstate infrastructure with neighboring countries continues. In particular, last year, a series of important meetings were held, and certain agreements were reached.

At the meetings of the Interstate Coordinating Water Management Commission (ICWMC), the distribution of water intake limits during the vegetative and autumn-winter periods in the basins of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, as well as the use of transboundary water resources in the region and current issues, are discussed.

In 2024-2025, Uzbekistan reached a number of important agreements with Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan on the rational use of transboundary water resources and the operation of water management facilities, including their automation. In June 2024, a trilateral protocol was signed between Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan to agree on the operational regime of the Bakhri Tochik reservoir, and over one billion cubic meters of water were additionally allocated for the Tashkent, Syrdarya, and Jizzakh regions during the vegetative period.

The cleaning and repair of the Big Hissar Canal on the border with Tajikistan in the Surkhandarya region will allow for an average annual supply of 350 million cubic meters of water.

Thanks to the positive resolution of issues discussed within the framework of the Joint Uzbek-Turkmen Intergovernmental Commission on Water Management, more than five billion cubic meters of water have been accumulated in the Tuyamuyun Reservoir, which is 500 million cubic meters more than in previous years.

As a result of close ties with Kazakhstan, about 700 million cubic meters of water were released from the Shardara Reservoir into the Aydar-Arnasai lake system last year to improve the ecological situation. In December 2024, based on agreements reached with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan, 1.4 billion cubic meters of water were obtained from the Shardara Reservoir. Additionally, the lake system receives 5.5-6 million cubic meters of water per day through collectors, averaging 3.5 billion cubic meters per year.

In accordance with the President's decree "On measures to improve the water resources management system and increase the efficiency of their use at the grassroots level" dated January 5, 2024, government institutions "Suv etkazib berish xizmati" (Water Supply Service) have been created in the regions. To provide water to the land plots of dehkan and farmer households, a mechanism has been introduced to approve water intake limits for irrigation with the consideration of water source levels by the regional councils of people's deputies.

Moreover, when implementing water-saving irrigation technologies and determining the volume of water intake for irrigation based on water metering devices, a reduction coefficient of 0.5 is applied to the water tax rate; when implementing water-saving irrigation technologies or determining the volume of water intake for irrigation based on water metering devices, a reduction coefficient of 0.7 is applied; if water-saving irrigation technologies are not introduced, and the volume of water intake for irrigation is not determined based on water metering devices, an increased coefficient of 1.1 is applied.

Based on this, and considering the feasibility of implementing water-saving irrigation technologies and equipping water intake points with water metering devices, explanatory work is being carried out in the regions regarding the effectiveness of this mechanism among farmers and dehkan. Last year, thanks to the State Unitary Enterprise "Suv etkazib berish xizmati," consumers received 26.2 billion cubic meters of water, including 22.2 billion cubic meters from rivers and canals, 1.7 billion cubic meters from collector-drainage networks. For land flushing, 2.3 billion cubic meters of water were used.

As a result of accurate accounting of water resources supplied to water consumers, in 2023, tax authorities received reports on water usage volumes by consumers, according to which agricultural producers, including farmers' households and agro-clusters, received 8.6 billion cubic meters of water. This figure increased 1.7 times last year, reaching 14.3 billion cubic meters.

Another important aspect: In the republic, 165.6 thousand km of irrigation networks are used for irrigation of agricultural crops. Of these, 28.7 thousand km account for main, inter-district, and inter-farm canals, and 136.9 thousand km are within-farm irrigation networks.

In 2023, 10.7 km, or 38 percent, of the 28.7 km of irrigation networks managed by water management organizations were canals with concrete lining. Therefore, at a videoconference meeting chaired by the head of state on November 29, 2023, 2024 was declared the year of intensive canal concreting to drastically reduce water losses in irrigation networks. In the past year, 700.5 billion soums from the state budget and 19 million dollars from international financial institutions were allocated for canal concreting. Specifically, 437.3 km of canals were concreted using budget funds, and 48.2 km were concreted using funds from international financial institutions.

According to the tasks set at the videoconference meeting on rational water and energy use, as well as reducing losses in agriculture, held on November 7, 2024, chaired by the head of state, 80 billion soums have been allocated for the implementation of canal concreting works for irrigation networks owned by the State Unitary Enterprise "Suv etkazib berish xizmati." As of now, 9.2 thousand tons of cement have been purchased at low prices for 6.4 billion soums, and 2.7 thousand km of within-farm irrigation networks have been concreted.

The water consumers themselves are also not indifferent to the ongoing reforms in the country. Farmers and cluster enterprises are also rapidly concreting irrigation networks on their territories. In 2024, thanks to their efforts, 13.3 thousand km of within-farm networks have been concreted. This year, it is planned to concrete 15 thousand km of within-farm networks, including 6.8 thousand km, where concreting works have already been completed.

As a result, last year, water savings of 8 billion cubic meters were achieved, which ensured guaranteed water supply for repeat planting.

Agriculture is one of the sectors where water and energy resources are consumed the most, with a significant share of pump stations. Therefore, declaring 2025 as the year for improving pump station efficiency will benefit both agriculture and farmers and dehkans.

At the same time, it is important to note that in the past five years, a number of incentives and preferences have been provided to expand the application of water-saving technologies. Before 2019, the total area where water-saving technologies were introduced was 28 thousand hectares (or 1 percent) compared to the total irrigated area. Today, this has reached 1.9 million hectares, or 46 percent. From 2017 to 2024, the following types of water-saving irrigation technologies were introduced: drip irrigation on 560 thousand hectares, sprinkler irrigation on 90 thousand hectares, discrete irrigation on 59 thousand hectares, and others. Laser equipment has been used to level 1.1 million hectares of land.

Since the water issue is a priority, work to promote its effective use cannot be eased for a minute. In this regard, alongside the implementation of the "Water School" project, the timely creation of demonstration plots based on joint efforts in higher educational institutions and farmer households across the republic has proven to be effective.

By 2030, Uzbekistan plans to increase the share of canals with concrete lining to 46 percent, or 13.2 thousand km, and the total area of land covered by water-saving irrigation technologies to 2 million hectares. Based on this, this year, with 1.35 trillion soums, works will be carried out to build and reconstruct 586.5 km of canals, 21 km of furrow systems, 45.3 km of closed irrigation pipelines, and 167.9 km of open collectors, 109.5 km of closed horizontal drainage networks, and 570.4 km of main canals, and 15 thousand km of within-farm irrigation networks of farming households will be concreted. The coverage of water-saving technologies will reach approximately 55 percent of agricultural arable land, or 2.4 million hectares.

As a result, by the end of the year, the efficiency coefficient of the irrigation system and irrigation networks will increase from 0.67 to 0.68, saving 10 billion cubic meters of water in agriculture.

Shavkat Khamraev,
Minister of Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan