Uzbekistan to introduce Smart Water system at 61 water facilities for a South Korean grant of $7 million

On September 19, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting to discuss the further reform of the water resources management system and widespread introduction of water-saving technologies, the presidential press service reports.

It should be noted that in order to improve the management system of the sphere in Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Water Resources was established.

Practical measures to use water and save the water resources are envisaged in the 2030 Agriculture Development Strategy, which is currently being devised under the instruction of the head of state.

The meeting participants deliberated on the reduction of losses during irrigation and on the efficient use of budget funds allocated for these purposes.

Today, 46 billion cubic meters of water are spent for the irrigation of 3.2 million hectares of land, whereas only 60 percent reach the fields. One reason is that only 23 percent of irrigation networks, totaling 180 thousand kilometers, have a concrete coating, and even these have not been updated for 30-35 years.

Another reason is that 98 percent of the sown area is irrigated in the old fashioned way, the crops themselves are not optimally planted. No agency puts forward strict requirements for the efficient use of water, its accounting, the use of water-saving technologies in irrigation networks.

To this end, the President pointed to the need for developing an improved crop placement system based on the availability of water in the regions and the applicability of conservation technologies.

The Ministry of Water Resources has been instructed to implement the Smart Water system at the 61 water facilities for a South Korean grant of $7 million, which allows for real-time monitoring of water consumption. Next year, the system is to be implemented at least at 120 sites, and at 300 – until 2023.