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Sociology 76, no. 3 (2011): 394–421; Abdullaev et al., “Socio-technical aspect of water management in Uzbekistan.”
48 Oberchirker and Hornidge, “‘Water Is Life’.”
49 Ibid.
50 “Irrigation in Central Asia in figures,” AQUASTAT’s Survey, FAO 2012.
51 K. Wegerich, “Water user associations in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan: study on conditions for sustainable development,” Occasional Paper 32,
University of London, 2000.
Nariya Khasanova
136
than 80,000
52
). Modification of the infrastructure for
many small farms would require large investments.
The government introduced a land consolidation
program, but due to the continued land fragmenta-
tion, the expected benefits did not materialize.
53
Uzbekistan’s Proposed Solutions
Uzbekistan inherited from the Soviet Union a solid
hydraulic infrastructure: 1,130 pumping stations that
irrigated more than 50% of total irrigated land via a
22,300 km long network of inter-farm and main ca-
nals and 42 water-intake structures.
54
Operation and
maintenance of such an infrastructure is costly for a
newly independent country. State financing for reha-
bilitation decreased from 27% in the 1990s to 8% in
the 2000s. Operation and maintenance remains un-
derfinanced: Uzbekistan can cover only 50% of the
required amount.
55
The water infrastructure after 35
years of operation has reached its limit. Moreover,
many on-farm irrigation channels are unlined: only
20-30% of them have concrete lining.
56
One of the
tremendous implications is that 70% of water in
Uzbekistan is lost during transport between the river
and the crops due to deteriorated infrastructure.
57
Uzbekistan has recognized the problem of its
water use inefficiency and since 2007 spends more
than $110 million to improve irrigation infrastruc-
ture annually.
During the 2014 World Water Day, Tashkent
promised to allocate $1 billion for irrigation sys-
tem modernization over a period of five years.
58
The
Irrigated Land Reclamation Fund was established by
a presidential decree. As a result the Uzbek state de-
clared that 3,127 km of collection and drainage sys-
tems, 809 vertical drain units, 156 drainage pumping
stations, and 1,422 observation networks have been
built or rehabilitated, and 66,200 km of collection
and drainage networks, drainage pumping stations,
and 5,807 culverts have been repaired or upgraded.
The two Welfare Improvement Strategies (2008-
2010 and 2013-2015) indicate that Uzbekistan is de-
veloping policies on:
• Introducing progressive, resource-saving ir-
rigation technologies: there are plans to build
a drip irrigation system on 25,000 ha of land
between 2013 and 2018. By presidential de-
cree, farmers and other land users will be giv-
en long-term concessional loans with a 5%
interest rate and these farmers will be exempt
from land tax and other types of taxes;
• Capacity building: Uzbekistan will strength-
en the physical infrastructure and provide
equipment to water management organiza-
tions, upgrade the skills of water manage-
ment professionals;
59
• Improving the activities of the Association of
Water Users;
• Gradually shifting toward the system of par-
tially-charged water usage in agriculture;
• Developing agrarian science, and introduc-
ing mechanisms designed to stimulate the
application of scientific and technological
advancements, as well as innovations into ag-
ricultural production.
60
Funding national solutions is also increasingly part
of the international financial institutions’ approach-
es. International organizations issued US $1.1 bil-
lion to support agricultural projects in Uzbekistan,
including some related to the improvement of water
management in the agricultural sector.
61
Uzbekistan
is seeking international assistance to rehabilitate its
irrigation/drainage infrastructure and increase effi-
52 “Water resources management and improvement of the water sector in Uzbekistan,” Annex to the letter dated 14 March 2013 from the Chargé
d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Uzbekistan to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General.
53 N. Djanibekov, K. Van Assche, I. Bobojonov, and J. P. A. Lamers, “Farm Restructuring and Land Consolidation in Uzbekistan: New Farms with Old
Barriers,” Europe-Asia Studies 64, no. 6 (2012): 1101–26.
54 S. Rakhmatullaev, F. Huneau, H. Celle-Jeanton et al., “Water reservoirs, irrigation and sedimentation in Central Asia,” Environmental Earth Sciences
68, no. 4 (2013): 985–98.
55 Author’s anonymous interview with World Bank expert.
56 Ibid.
57 Rakhmatullaev, Huneau, Celle-Jeanton et al., “Water reservoirs, irrigation and sedimentation in Central Asia.”
58 “Uzbekistan vydelit svyshe $1 milliardov v blizhayshie 5 let na modernizatsiyu svoey irrigatsionno-meliorativnoy sistemy,” Kant.kg, March 24,
2014, http://kant.kg/2014-03-24/uzbekistan-vyidelit-svyishe-1-mlrd-v-blizhayshie-5-let-na-modernizatsiyu-svoey-irrigatsionno-meliorativ-
noy-sistemyi/.
59 “Water resources management and improvement of the water sector in Uzbekistan.”
60 Welfare Improvement Strategy in Uzbekistan (2013-2015).
61 http://www.uzdaily.com/articles-id-28057.htm.
Revisiting Water Issues in Central Asia: Shifting from Regional Approach to National Solutions
137
ciency in the agricultural sector. Along with the pilot
efforts of introducing water saving technologies by
the UNDP, Israel, being a rational water user, has be-
come interested in the prospect of introducing their
innovative technologies to the Uzbek market.
62
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