Measures for effective management and rational use of water resources identified
19/09/2019 20:05
Measures for effective management and rational use of water resources identified
19/09/2019 20:05
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 19 September, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on further reforming the water management system and improving water use efficiency.
Today in the world the problem of water shortage is becoming more acute. In our country, special attention is paid to this issue, measures are being taken for the rational use of water.
First of all, in order to improve the management system of the sphere, the Ministry of Water Resources was organized.
Actual measures for water use and conservation of water resources are provided for in the Strategy for the Development of Agriculture until 2030, which is being developed on behalf of the head of state.
The meeting discussed the reduction of losses during irrigation and the efficient spending of allocated budget funds.
Currently, 46 billion cubic meters of water are spent on irrigation of 3.2 million hectares of land, of which only 60 percent reach the fields. One reason is that only 23 percent of irrigation networks, the total length of which is 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 "the old fashioned way", the crops themselves are not optimally placed. No agency puts forward strict requirements for the efficient use of water, its accounting, the use of water-saving technologies in irrigation networks.
In this regard, the need for developing an improved crop placement system based on the availability of water to the regions and the applicability of conservation technologies is indicated.
The Ministry of Water Resources has been instructed to implement the Smart Water system at the 61 water facilities through a South Korean grant of US$7 million, which allows real-time monitoring of water consumption. Next year, the system will be implemented at least 120, until 2023 - at 300 sites.
The Ministry of Energy was instructed to ensure by the end of 2020 the connection of 1.7 thousand pumping stations to the automated control system for electricity consumption, as well as the widespread use of modern information technologies in general.
Time requires the introduction of market mechanisms in the field. Today sown areas, orchards and vineyards, even those that bring high profits, receive water at the expense of the state.
In this regard, the need for transferring 50 water facilities in 22 districts to the private sector in 2020 was noted.
At the meeting, special attention was paid to the development of water management science and innovation, ensuring their integration with production.
An instruction was given to organize the “Design Group” at the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization Engineers in order to introduce young scientists into scientific practice, develop students’ design skills, and stimulate innovation in the field with the involvement of foreign experience and specialists.
It was noted that in the implementation of large projects, it is necessary to secure research workers and talented students to objects, so that they can put scientific and innovative developments into practice, they should help them improve their skills abroad.
Widespread adoption of water-saving technologies is one of the key tasks in the field.
An analysis of the effectiveness of such technologies on the example of Ferghana region showed that farmers’ expenses for water supply decreased by 50 percent, for fertilizers - by 37 percent, for fuel - by 35 percent.
With this in mind, it was instructed to introduce water-saving technologies on 200 thousand hectares next year and on 1 million hectares of sown area until 2025.
Currently, water management organizations have 4 thousand irrigation wells at their disposal, each of which serves 30 hectares of area, up to 40-50 million soums are spent on their activities per year. Irrational use of well water during irrigation leads to a decrease in the resource of underground sources.
In this regard, the responsible persons indicated the need to transfer well water consumers in 2020 to the use of water-saving technologies and the use of solar panels.
Currently, the functions of the customer and contractor for the construction, reconstruction and operation of water facilities are carried out by one agency - the Ministry of Water Resources. This can adversely affect healthy competition.
For this reason, it was noted that 57 contracting enterprises should be withdrawn from the ministry system and merged into a separate joint-stock company.
The activities of water consumer associations should also be reviewed, turned into a professional structure capable of attracting investments, grants and other means, having a fleet of special equipment and providing quality services to farmers, the meeting noted.
Responsible persons reported on issues discussed at the meeting.
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