📋 Tender Overview
Source of Funding / Amount: Loan: climate adaptive water resources management in the aral sea basin program
Ordinary capital resources: US$ 150.00 million
The proposed project will build on lessons learned from past and ongoing projects of adb in water resources in uzbekistan. It will undertake a long-term, strategic and knowledge-based approach. The project will deliver climate adaptive solutions to water resources management by modernizing irrigation and drainage in selected subprojects within the amu darya and (selective reaches of the) zarafshan river basins in uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan has the largest population of the aral sea basin (asb) countries. In 2015, about 12. 8% of people in uzbekistan lived below the national poverty line of which 75% live in rural areas. Agriculture employs 40% of the total workforce and represents 17% of gross domestic product. In 2018, growth in agriculture slowed to 2. 7% from 5. 8% as crop diversification and a water deficit held growth in crop output to 1. 1%. Improved water resources management is critical for sustained agricultural development and economic growth. Transboundary water resources are an overarching challenge for uzbekistan. Of the total 123 cubic kilometer of water resources of the asb, only 9% originates within uzbekistan highlighting its water dependency. The country relies on the amu darya and syr darya rivers and their tributaries which emanate in upstream riparian countries (afghanistan, kyrgyz republic and tajikistan). As these countries continue to develop water resources for hydropower, transboundary water cooperation becomes increasingly relevant. Irrigated agriculture is the largest consumer of water resources accounting for 93% of all water utilized with 96% of the total cropped land irrigated (from the amu darya and syr darya rivers and their tributaries). About 68% of irrigated land produces cotton and wheat. These are highly water consumptive and have low productivity (averaging 2. 25 tons/ha for cotton and 4. 2 tons/ha for wheat). The government has committed to converting 170,000 ha of cotton and 50,000 ha of wheat to horticulture and livestock from 2016 to 2020. Major river diversion for intensive agriculture, over-irrigation and poor drainage have resulted in serious environmental degradation. Reduced river flows into the aral sea has resulted in irreversible desiccation and major impacts. High seepage losses in the irrigation system, over-application of irrigation water and deteriorated drainage networks have caused soil salinization and land degradation. In uzbekistan, 51% of irrigated land is affected by salinity resulting in 20,000 ha of land lost annually due to saline soils. The government of uzbekistan has initiated actions on policy and legal frameworks for the water sector; progress is slow, and approvals protracted. There is no medium or long-term vision for the water sector and no roadmap to create an enabling environment for modern
