Comparison of practices

Use of water resources

• Use of water resources
• Use of land resources

Country: Kyrgyzstan

Province: Osh Region

District: Kara-Suu District

Other settlement: WUAs in proximity of the Aravan-Akbura Main Canal

Country: Kazakhstan

Province: South Kazakhstan Region

District: Maktaaral District

Akbura River Basin

Shallow groundwater occurrence

• Upstream (Ferghana) and midstream (Syr Darya) of the Syr Darya River
• Ebb occurrence of highly mineralized ground water

Start date: 01.01.2003

End date: 31.12.2011

Start date: 01.01.1965

End date: 31.12.1975

• Uneven distribution of water to consumers (head-end issue),
• Unstable water supply to consumers,
• Significant organizational water losses

Deterioration of reclamation situation: rising of ground water, land salination

Principles of water rotation and public participation

Technique and technology of land reclamation via a system of vertical drainage wells (VDW)

Uniform and fair water distribution among water consumers (WCs) inside WUAs, clear alignment and coordination of water supply schedules via internal WUA networks of all levels with water supply schedules to WUA derivation canals from main canals is ensured by enhancing existing water distribution planning techniques based on water rotation (recirculation) and volumes of technically deliverable water executed via decade planning (within vegetation period decades).

Actions:

In accordance with the approved decade-based water distribution scheduled plan, decade water quantity is supplied to WCs in turns as per their water requests.  The schedules can be quickly adjusted depending on water availability in concerned water bodies.  The technique is based on wide engagement of WCs in distribution procedures – not only WUA personnel but also WCs themselves know who is receiving water, when and how much of it and, thus, can monitor each other and assess each other’s operations.  This promotes better mutual water discipline among WCs.  The process can be controlled from beginning to end based on corresponding documents (decade water distribution schedules, water request from WCs and WUAs, water request registration logs, water accounting logs at WUA headworks and WUA derivation canals.

Results:

As the result of introducing the decade-based water distribution plan in 2009-2011:

• actual water intake decreased, despite the fact that water supply to WCs remained high due to the increased efficiency of water distribution inside WUAs (90% of water availability) and ensured high yields;
• irrigation network efficiency rate rose from 0.69 to 0.79. The volume of water saved due to reduced losses along WUA irrigation lines made 8% of the total actual water intake;
• increased net incomes due to yield growth thanks to better water supply of key agricultural crops;
• drastic drop in the number of disputes and conflicts associated with not only water use but also financial, economic and institutional stability of WUAs;
• instead of mineralized collector and water, WCs located in the end sections of WUA networks started to get water safe for their crops.

Actions:

A VDW system set up. Prior to its installation, the area was drained via a horizontal open-type drain-age network ineffective as to reducing the mass of salinized land.

Comprehensive VDW efforts significantly enhanced drainage.

However, currently due to the absence of a single organization responsible for VDW operation, maintenance and repair, the VDW systems recon-structed under World Bank and Asian Development Bank projects do not perform as effectively as ini-tially.

Results:

Financial and economic:
Increased cotton yields (from 10-15 up to 30-35 dt/ha).

Technical:
Successful response to land salination in 3 districts: ground water table steadily kept at 2-3 m depth leading to a sharp contraction of salinized land area.

Lessons learnt:

Thanks to proper water use management inside WUAs, water intake in the upper sections of main canals and rivers decreased by 50-80% and, thus, the unproductive discharge to collectors and depressions reduced also.  Reduced water intake in the head sections of main canals and rivers led to the increased influx of high-quality irrigation water in their end sections resulting in better observance of environmental requirements aimed at preserving wild flora and fauna.

Recommendation:

Country-wide scaling-up of the practice of decade-based water distribution planning inside WUAs is necessary and possible.

Lessons learnt:

In due time, the model proved useful and timely, as the country urgently needed to increase its cotton yields. The practice demonstrated high efficiency of VDW in combatting land salination.

Recommendations:

1. Establish a special VDW System Maintenance and Operation Department;
2. Build personnel capacity:
• Continual training of personnel in the Department and Provincial Hydrogeological and Land Reclamation Expedition;
• Drafting and distribution of training materi-als.

The practice is the result of streamlining:

• traditional tools transferred from generation to generation which demonstrate their relevance in modern conditions,
• research works

Domestic tools (outcomes of research by domestic R&D organizations)

1. Cost of implementation: High

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

1. Cost of implementation: Moderate

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

Project title: Integrated Water Resources Management in the Fergana Valley (IWRM-Fergana).

Project duration: Jan 01, 2001-Dec 31, 2012 (12 years).

Project goal and objectives: overall project goal was “to contribute to safer living, environmental sustainability and wide social harmony, to support rural restructuring in Central Asian countries by enhancing water resources management based on the example of the Ferghana Valley”.

Project beneficiaries: WUAs, farmers in project sites.

Project implementer: IWMI, SIC of the ICWC, Project Steering Committee (PSC) consisting of 3 representatives of the Ministries of Rural and Water Management (MRWM) of project target countries, 3 heads of Regional Water Administrations hosting project target sites.

• Guidelines on designing and adjusting water distribution plan on WUA level based on daily planning;
• Guidelines on irrigation water distribution on WUA level;
• Handbook on water use monitoring on WUA level.

Reshetkina N.M. et al. “Vertical Drainage”, Moscow: Kolos, 1978. – 319 p.

SIC ICWC

SIC ICWC