Comparison of practices

Use of water resources

• Use of water resources
• Use of land resources

Country: Kazakhstan

Province: Karaganda Region

District: Shet District

Other settlement: Aksa-Ayuliye Rural District

Country: Uzbekistan

Province: Fergana Region

The site is located in the area of acute shortage of irrigation and drinking water

• Upper streams (Fergana Region) and mid streams (Syr Darya Region) of the Syr Darya River;
• Shallow occurrence of ground water

Start date: 01.01.2015

End date: 31.12.2015

Start date: 01.01.2010

End date: 31.12.2012

Acute shortage of irrigation water

Overall poor performance of Reclamation Expeditions (RE) and speed of assessment of the reclamation condition of irrigated land

Measures to restore natural springs: arrangement of stone protection fencing around springs and installation of water-release pipes

GIS-technologies and remote-sensing tools

Actions
For project purposes, 10 springs were selected still able to exert water to the surface. Project actions included arrangement of stone protection fencing around springs to prevent cattle from trampling the springs. To allow water release, drain pipes were installed in protection stone walls.

Results
Financial and economic:
The economic effect of livestock production and irriga-tion development exceeding 100,000 USD.

Technical
Enhanced (by up to 30-40%) supply of irrigation and drinking water in the area; drafted “Rules of Using General Use Water Facilities for Personal and Domestic Needs Located on the territory of the Rural District”.

Before the introduction of GIS-technologies, REs performed all operations – including production of maps, identification of areas suffering from land salination, level of ground water mineralization, etc. 

 Actions:

1. Enhancing the technical capacity of REs: provision of necessary equipment and tools, licensed GIS software, GPS devices, equipment for chemical analysis, etc.
2. Enhancing personnel capacities:

• Trainings and consultations of the personnel of Basin Irrigation Water Administrations (BIWAs) and REs abroad and in Uzbekistan;
• Consultations by foreign and local GIS experts;
• Development and distribution of training materials.

 Results: 

Financial and economic:

Reduction of the number of drafting technicians, saving on stationery, etc.

Technical:

Increased productivity and quality of works by RE office personnel.

Lessons learnt:
The practice demonstrated the advantages of restoring springs and the need to regularly maintain water bodies

Recommendations:
It is necessary to continue the efforts not only in Kazakhstan, but also across the region. For example, it is possible to rehabilitate multiple springs and water accumulators (like “sardoba” or underground “kyariz”) across all Central Asia.

Lessons learnt:

The practice has demonstrated the possibility and efficacy of successful and effective application of GIS-technologies for reclamation as well the overall demand for GIS-technologies and GIS-specialists in other areas (after project completion, the “drain” of GIS-specialists to other industries/organizations started).

Recommendations:

Financial incentives are necessary to keep GIS-specialists in the water sector. It is necessary to scale-up the GIS-practices in other regional REs of Uzbekistan and irrigation-related organizations, including Water User Associations (WUAs).

Domestic tools (outcomes of research by domestic R&D organizations)

Foreign tools (transfer of foreign experience)

1. Cost of implementation: High

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

1. Cost of implementation: High

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

Project title: SaveH2Okz Project within the framework of the joint EU/UNDP/UNECE Project “Supporting Kazakhstan in its transition to green economy model”

Duration: 2015-2018

Project goal and objectives: raising awareness on the issue of water resources exhaustion with the aim of fostering “green economy” practices

Project beneficiaries: local population

Project implementer: Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Project title: Application of GIS-technologies for reclamation.

Project duration: Jan 2010-Dec 2012 (3 years).

Project goal and objectives: comprehensive support of Reclamation Expedition (RE) specialists; introduction of new technologies; enhancing RE technical capacities to ensure a more expedient implementation of projects to improve the reclamation condition of irrigated land with the aim of receiving better yields of agricultural goods with the simultaneous maintenance of environmental equilibrium in the area.

Project beneficiaries: Fergana Region and Syr Daria Region Reclamation Expeditions.

Project implementer: Management Department of the Foundation for Reclamation Improvement of Irrigated Land.

Joint EU/UNDP/UNECE Project “Supporting Kazakhstan in its transition to green economy model” sponsored by the European Union (saveh2o.kz)

"Environmental Digest" Journal, Issue 11, 2012.

SIC ICWC

SIC ICWC