The President approved the Concept for the Development of Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2020–2030

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A Decree of the President “On Approving the Concept of Development of the Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2020–2030” was adopted.

The decree approved the Concept for the Development of Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2020–2030.

One of the priority areas of the Concept is to ensure the safety and reliable operation of reservoirs, flood reservoirs and other water facilities.

According to the Decree, it is envisaged to achieve the following indicators by 2030:

- increase the efficiency of irrigation systems from 0.63 to 0.73;

- reduction of the area of irrigated land with a low level of water supply from 560 thousand hectares to 190 thousand hectares;

- reduction of saline irrigated land by 226 thousand hectares;

- reduction of the annual volume of electricity consumption by pumping stations of the Ministry of Water Resources system by 25 percent;

- installation of Smart Water measuring and control devices at all facilities of the irrigation system with the introduction of digital technologies in the process of recording water;

- automation of water management processes at 100 large water facilities;

- bringing the total area of land covered by water-saving technologies for irrigation of crops to 2 million hectares, including drip irrigation technologies - up to 600 thousand hectares;

- Implementation of 50 projects in the water sector based on the principles of public-private partnership.

In order to fully and timely fulfill the tasks stipulated by this Decree, a responsible department will be created in the system of the Ministry of Water Resources.

The transfer of the functions of the Ministry of Water Resources for the management of water facilities located on the lands of clusters that have taken these agricultural sown lands to their balance will be carried out on the basis of direct negotiations.

Also, the decree approved the Roadmap for the implementation in 2020–2022 of the tasks defined in the Concept.

According to the Road Map, the Water Code will be developed in order to implement effective mechanisms for managing water resources, efficient water use and water consumption.