Comparison of practices

Use of water resources

• Use of water resources
• Use of land resources

Country: Kazakhstan

Province: South Kazakhstan Region

District: Maktaaral District

Country: Kazakhstan

Province: Jambyl Region

District: Talas District

Other settlement: Village of Sadu Shakirov

The hydro-posts are located in foothill and/or flat areas with the water stream speeds in canals fluctuating between 0.1 and 1.5 m/s

The site is located in the desert foothill plain in South-ern Kazakhstan (internal drain area) at the very end of Sharuashlyk Irrigation Canal.

Start date: 01.01.2015

End date: 31.12.2017

Start date: 01.05.2008

End date: 30.04.2009

• Inefficient management of water resources;
• Inefficient planning of water distribution

Acute water shortage; land degradation in the village of Sadu Shakirov; abandoned irrigated arable lands used only for year-round cattle grazing.

For a long time, the irrigation canal was not operation-al and, thus, became dilapidated. The situation in the area was aggravated by climate change impacts (de-creased quantity of early spring, summer and winter precipitation, increased average annual temperature, spring and autumn frost bites and summer droughts).

DUV 2/0.005-10 Water Level Sensor

Method of autumn and winter water-charging irrigation

The DUV 2/0,005-10 Sensor was deployed and demonstrated its efficiency in Jambyl and Southern Kazakhstan Regions.  It allowed to visually and in real-time observe the dynamics of water level fluctuations and completely exclude manual operations and subjectivity in the process of taking readings – a relevant task in the environment of transition to market economy.

Water level sensors were installed in 17 hydro-posts in Southern Kazakhstan Region (Maktaaral District).  In Jambyl Region, the same sensors were installed in 3 hydro-posts in Merke District.

Results:

Technical:

a) immediate data exchange on water volume passing through every water lead to the fields of agricultural producers (farms) as well as automatic transfer of this information to stakeholder organizations (branch of “Kazvodkhoz” Republican State Enterprise (RSE), etc.);

b) archiving the data coming from hydro-posts with its subsequent processing in the form of reports.

Technical and economic:

1) “all in one” – all components of DUV 2/0.005-10 are assembled into one unit/casing, do not require any additional modules and adjustments, i.e. it is an out-of-the-box universal tool to execute monitoring of water reserves irrespective of the availability of power supply and other technical and weather conditions.  The simple Sensor’s design facilitates installation and start-up and commissioning, as well as allows minimizing labor costs;

2) DUV 2/0.005-10 is flexible in terms of installation, data transfer methods, measurement subject (water level or hydro-lock position, etc.);

3) the cost of the measuring unit is 3-4 times less compared to currently available alternatives;

4) DUV 2/0.005-10 designed architecture allows increasing the number of controlled points and performing an integrated monitoring of the whole network.

Actions:
1) Reconstruction of the canal, stop-gates and field irrigation networks (rehabilitation of irrigation furrows),
2) Setting up artificial pastures with forage crops

Results:

Financial and economic:
Using water-charging irrigation for rangelands allowed increasing their productivity from 3.5 to 5 dt/ha and receiving 60 tons of herbage for cattle and sheep and goats from non-cultivated land.

Technical:
1) 12 km of the canal and 5 stop-gates to regulate water releases restored,
2) 5 km of irrigation furrows built,
3) Cultivated pastures with forage crops created (soil preparation, alfaalfa planting, coordination of irrigation norms),
4) Fields are prepared during the summer-fall period, and watered during late fall or early spring.

Lessons learnt:

Deployment of the DUV 2/0.005-10 Water Level Sensor led to increased precision of water level and consumption measurements and higher promptness of information collection compared to any known methods.

Using the device in the conditions of water resources deficiency, on the one hand, will ensure objective accounting of water use and, on the other hand, will promote water conservation among water users which will lead to more efficient technological development of agro-industrial complex and higher labor productivity.

Recommendations:

The success of deploying water level sensors in project hydro-posts facilitated execution of measures to disseminate the positive experience of using the device in the water sector.  Their effect will be even more significant as enhanced quantity and quality indicators will ensure effective management of water resources and water conservation with simultaneous development of irrigated agriculture.

Lessons learnt:
Application of water-charging irrigation allowed in-creasing water availability and, as the result, productivity of agricultural crops.

Application of water-charging irrigation demonstrated the efficiency of water use and allowed local popula-tion to go through winter without losing livestock.

Recommendations:
The method can be used in areas/communities where along with crop growing the population is also involved in livestock breeding.

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

Traditional tools transferred from generation to generation that proved their efficiency in modern conditions

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: High

2. Approximate cost of investment per 1 ha:

3. O&M costs: High

4. Expert support: Not needed

1. Project title: Implementation, scientific and methodical support and dissemination of automatic water-monitoring and water-accounting instruments in water measuring facilities of the pilot site in Jambyl Region.

Project goal: implement the innovation in the agro-industrial complex of Jambyl Region by way of installing water level sensors (DUV 0.005-10 Model, designed by KazSRIWE LLP) in hydro-posts along the Merkenka River and its diversion canals: Chon, Tesken, MPT of Merke District of Jambyl Region.

2. Project title: Implementation, scientific and methodical support and dissemination of automatic water-monitoring and water-accounting instruments in water measuring facilities of the pilot site in Southern Kazakhstan Region.

Project goal: implement the innovation in the agro-industrial complex of Southern Kazakhstan Region by way of installing water level sensors (DUV 0.005-10 Model, designed by KazSRIWE LLP) in hydro-posts along the diversion canals of Dostyk Main Canal in Maktaaral District of Southern Kazakhstan Region.

Project title: Fall and early spring Irrigation of arable land and pastures as an adaptation mechanism of ra-tional water use in Southern Kazakhstan

Duration: May 1, 2008 – April 30, 2009

Project goal and objectives: reduce land degradation due to climate change by way of rational use of irriga-tion water. The project was implemented to prevent loss of cattle due to forage shortage during alternating droughty years.

Project beneficiaries: local population.

Project implementer: Kogal LLC

1. Implementation, scientific and methodical support and dissemination of automatic water-monitoring and water-accounting instruments in water measuring facilities of the pilot site in Jambyl Region: R&D Report (final)/ Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Water Economy, supervised by Karlykhanov, O. K., executed by Li, M.A., Bakbergenov, N.N., Zhakashov, A.M., Imanaliyev, T. K., Ponkratiev, D.M., Taraz 2017, p. 108;
2. Implementation, scientific and methodical support and dissemination of automatic water-monitoring and water-accounting instruments in water measuring facilities of the pilot site in Southern Kazakhstan Region: R&D Report (final)/ Kazakh Scientific Research Institute of Water Economy, supervised by Karlykhanov, O. K., executed by Li, M.A., Bakbergenov, N.N., Zhakashov, A.M., Imanaliyev, T. K., and Ponkratiev, D.M., Taraz 2017, p. 80.

1) UNDP Compilation “Climate change adaptation: ex-amples from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan”, Tashkent 2012;
2) pandia.org

Li Marina 

Scientific Research Institute of Water Economy

+7(705)5774464

E-mail: limarina76@mail.ru

SIC ICWC