Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — On 12 August, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation dedicated to water resource management and the development of the country’s irrigation sector.

Given the limited availability of water resources in the region, their rational and careful use remains one of the highest priorities. Uzbekistan consistently pays close attention to this issue, conducting repairs of irrigation networks and introducing modern water-saving technologies.

From 2020 to 2024, approximately 60 trillion soums from the state budget and 622 million US dollars in foreign investments were allocated for these purposes. While water-saving technologies were applied on only 4% of irrigated land in 2020, by 2025 this share is expected to reach 50%.

Building on these efforts, a program for water resource management and irrigation sector development for 2025–2028 has been developed, which the head of state reviewed during the presentation. Officials reported on the key activities outlined in the program.

Among the program’s priorities is the rational use of water resources. Specifically, it plans the reconstruction of 2,551 kilometers of irrigation networks and the replacement of outdated pump station equipment with more energy-efficient models, which will reduce annual electricity consumption from 6.8 to 6.2 billion kilowatt-hours.

Soil condition significantly affects water consumption; therefore, measures are planned to reduce the areas with poor water supply from 424 to 276 thousand hectares, as well as to improve lands with high salinity and shallow groundwater levels.

As a result, around 460 thousand hectares of land will be returned to agricultural use.

Water-saving technologies will be implemented on 1.4 million hectares, including drip irrigation on 293 thousand hectares. Additionally, control and measurement equipment will be modernized at 20 large facilities.

To minimize human error in water accounting, a modern monitoring system will be installed at 12,000 reclamation wells and 1,750 pumps. Twelve major hydraulic structures will be converted to automated management using digital technologies.

Thanks to the program’s implementation, the share of concrete-lined canals is expected to increase from 39% to 47%, irrigation network quality will improve, and water losses will decrease. Water savings are projected to reach 10 billion cubic meters by 2025 and up to 14 billion cubic meters by 2028.

The President endorsed the proposed measures and approved the Program for Water Resource Management and Irrigation Sector Development for 2025–2028.

The presentation also highlighted efforts to improve efficiency and digitalization of water management and to expand private sector participation. Currently, automation of 18,755 hydrological posts at regional, district, and farm levels has begun, with plans to equip water distribution points in the fields in the future.

Special attention is given to digitalization of the sector. The goal is to integrate 11 sectoral programs into a unified platform, create an IT center, and establish a situational center actively using capabilities of the Uzbekcosmos satellite system.

Plans include equipping 5,200 pumps with electricity and water meters and transitioning large pumping facilities to renewable energy sources. The collected data will be accumulated on a digital platform to analyze the efficiency of water resource use.

To date, 2,612 water facilities have been transferred to private management, with major pumping stations also to be offered to the private sector under favorable investment conditions.

In 2024, 159 state water delivery service institutions were created based on district irrigation departments. To enhance their efficiency, these institutions will be granted the right to independently manage their own funds.

Since service quality and operational efficiency depend on staff qualifications, the program envisages the creation of a training center with 200 seats for personnel development.

The President instructed to improve the legal framework for water management, increase water use efficiency, and foster a culture of careful water stewardship throughout society.