Uzbekistan's goal is to provide all irrigated lands with water-saving technologies by 2030

The President of Uzbekistan set the most important task for the water management system - to provide the people with water and replenish its deficit caused by climate change and other factors.

Thanks to the measures being implemented, seven billion were saved in 2023, and eight billion cubic meters in 2024. In 2025, this figure should reach 10 billion cubic meters. This corresponds to the volume of water, the shortage of which was predicted earlier. By 2030, it is planned to save up to 15 billion cubic meters annually.

Once upon a time, in Nukus, due to groundwater and salts on the roadsides, even grass almost did not grow, not to mention flowers. At the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan, concreting of the Dustlik canal, passing through the city, began in 2017. The phased construction of the Nukus collector began. And in a short time, tangible results were achieved: water filtration in the canal decreased, the groundwater level dropped. Today, the streets of Nukus, fragrant with flowers, are unrecognizable.

Previously, due to the excessive rise in groundwater in Gulistan, even the issue of moving the administrative center of the Syrdarya region to the city of Yangiyer was considered. The leader of the country took the solution to the problem under personal control, the necessary funds were found. As a result of the reconstruction and concreting of the channel passing through Gulistan, water filtration has decreased, vertical drainage wells have been built, irrigation and melioration work has been carried out, and the groundwater level has noticeably decreased.

And there are many such examples. In Urgench, thanks to the concreting of the Shovot channel, as well as in the almost swampy Naryn region, due to the construction of vertical wells, it was possible to solve long-standing problems associated with the high level of groundwater.

At the initiative of the President of the country, large investments are being attracted to the water sector. With the participation of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Toshsoka canal system in the Khorezm region is being modernized; canals in the Fergana Valley are being reconstructed using World Bank funds, thanks to cooperation with the Asian Development Bank - in the Bukhara region, and IDB loans - in the Surkhandarya region. As a result, the groundwater level in these regions has decreased by 0.3-0.5 meters compared to the average long-term indicators, and the efficiency of the canals has increased significantly. The main thing is that the water supply to irrigated lands has improved. In many places, there is no longer a need for thousands of small pumping stations, since water now flows by gravity. This has saved electricity and operating costs.

On November 29, 2023, at a videoconference on measures for the rational use of water resources and the reduction of their losses, the head of state especially emphasized the need to concreting canals and ditches.

According to calculations, about 14 billion cubic meters of water (36 percent) are lost annually in irrigation systems with natural cover without any economic benefit. That is why 2024 was declared a shock year for concreting canals in the water industry. 676.7 billion soums were allocated from the state budget for the reconstruction of 555 km of canals. Clusters and farms put in order and concreted 13.5 thousand kilometers of internal irrigation networks.

These are not just dry numbers. They are the people's well-being and abundance on every dastarkhan.

Until recently, there was a misconception that drip irrigation is not suitable for the conditions of Uzbekistan and that in our hot climate, the traditional method of furrow irrigation is the most optimal. However, of the 4.3 million hectares of irrigated land, about half have been covered by water-saving technologies over the past seven years.

In support of this policy, seven decrees and resolutions of the President of Uzbekistan have been issued during this period, stimulating the introduction and development of water-saving solutions. Previously, equipment and components for it were imported from abroad. In 2019, there were only two or three enterprises in the country engaged in such technologies. Today, there are more than 60. Localization of production has reduced the cost by 20 percent per hectare, and also provided on-site service. In 2024 alone, 2.5 billion cubic meters of water were saved due to the use of water-saving technologies. If it weren't for the demands of the head of state and the loans and subsidies, we might still be able to reassure ourselves that certain types of water-saving technologies are allegedly not suitable for our conditions. We have an ambitious goal - to provide all irrigated lands in the republic with water-saving technologies by 2030. There are only a few years left to achieve this goal of this indicator.

Uzbekistan is an initiator in the issues of introducing water-saving technologies and applying modern methods of water resources management among the countries of the region.

"We call for joining efforts and launching a Regional Program for the Introduction of Water-Saving Technologies in Central Asia," said the President of our country, speaking at the Samarkand International Climate Forum.

By the way, thanks to the created conditions, a new movement has emerged among advanced domestic farmers this year: an increasing number of farms are switching to solar panels in order to apply water-saving technologies.

Frankly speaking, about 70 percent of all budget funds allocated to water management are spent on electricity, which is almost seven billion kWh used to operate about 1,700 pumping stations.

Thanks to the measures taken, in 2017, consumption was 8.3 billion kWh, in 2024 it decreased to 6.5 billion kWh. At a video conference on measures for the rational use of water and energy resources, as well as reducing losses in agriculture, held by the head of state on November 7, 2024, it was emphasized that in recent years, large pumping stations such as Karshi, Amu-Bukhara and Amu-Zang have been modernized at the expense of a billion dollars. However, due to the depreciation of medium and small pumps, the cost of water continues to rise.

Taking into account such problems, the next tasks were identified during the meeting. And 2025 has been declared the Year of Improving the Efficiency of Pumping Stations in Water Management.

As the President of the country noted, digitalization is the only way to radical changes in the sphere: it ensures transparency, accuracy and prevents corruption. Taking into account the objectives outlined in the Strategy "Uzbekistan - 2030" and the Concept of Development of Water Management of the Republic of Uzbekistan for

2020-2030, large-scale work has been done in the field of digitalization of water management and a number of technological solutions have been implemented. Thus, for online monitoring of water resources, Smart Water systems have been installed at 13,174 water metering posts of reservoirs and irrigation systems; Diver devices have been installed at 10,296 reclamation wells to monitor groundwater levels and the degree of soil mineralization; water consumption monitoring devices have been installed at 1,748 pumping stations; 96 large water management facilities have been transferred to automatic control.

A Water Management Digitalization Center has been organized under the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Suv hisobi and Nasos stansiyalari information systems have been created. The Decree of the President of the country "On priority measures for the implementation of the Program "From Poverty to Prosperity" dated September 23, 2024 has become a vivid example of the state's concern for the people. The document provides for the allocation of 3.2 trillion soums to improve the irrigation of household plots, ensure a stable supply of electricity, improve the quality of the Internet, repair internal roads and modernize other infrastructure in 1,000 most needy mahallas.

The President of Uzbekistan defends the idea that people should live well not tomorrow, but today. Within the framework of the Program "From Poverty to Prosperity" in 2025, large-scale projects are being implemented: 1,882 km of irrigation networks have been concreted at 864 sites for 1.1 trillion soums; 185 km of tray networks, 380 km of pipelines, 818 irrigation wells have been built; 421 pumping units have been installed. Water supply has been improved on 77.5 thousand hectares of household land in 467 thousand houses in mahallas with water shortages.

Yes, life is not without difficulties. And times are different: sometimes there is not enough water, and sometimes there is an abundance of it. But, be that as it may, the people of Uzbekistan deserve peace and tranquility. Fortunately, they have a leader who thinks about everyone who lives on this land. It is thanks to the far-sighted policy of the President of the country that we have embarked on the path of sustainable development, and the life of the people is becoming more prosperous year after year.

Shavkat Khamraev,

Minister of Water Resources of Uzbekistan.