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Cycle 6 (2017 Deadline)
Reducing water pollution and carbon emissions from irrigated areas by improving irrigation management and rural livelihoods: case studies from energy intensive pump irrigated areas of Sogd Province, Tajikistan, and Kashkadarya Province, Uzbekistan
PI: Oyture Anarbekov, o.anarbekov@cgiar.org, International Water Management Institute - Central Asia Office
U.S. Partner: James Ayars, United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service
Project Dates: December 2017 - May 2021
Project Overview:
This research is the first major attempt to analyze relationships between the pump irrigation practices, rural livelihoods, and health in Central Asia through transboundary partnerships. It builds on IWMI’s extensive background on irrigation and health issues and applies remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems (GIS) methodologies developed by IWMI to evaluate irrigation schemes and estimate relevant water indicators. The overall project objective is to assess whether improved irrigation management can make rural livelihoods more sustainable and reduce health issues by decreasing water pollution and carbon emissions, using the examples of two intensive energy-use pump irrigated areas of Sogd Province, Tajikistan, and Kashkadarya Province, Uzbekistan. The overall objective will be achieved through five specific activities:
1. Identifying the extent of water pollution attributed to the lift-irrigated agricultural zones by conducting a comprehensive analysis of contaminant fluxes and exposure routes
2. Determining the potential impacts of improving water use efficiency on energy savings, reducing CO2 emissions, and runoff from lift-irrigated areas by building and simulating impacts with computer models
3. Improving water use efficiency by utilizing data generated from a previously initiated PEER project (i.e., a geodatabase prepared for lift-irrigated areas) to identify current water use efficiencies in selected sites according to a set of indicators and subsequently to develop and recommend potential improvements
4. Assessing the current environmental and socioeconomic impact of irrigation and identifying possible interventions to improve rural livelihoods (e.g., restoring ecosystems and their services)
5. Preparing policy documents evaluating different methods based on a set of criteria for improving water use efficiency and reducing energy use, CO2 emissions, and return flow in lift-irrigated areas
The partnerships and collaboration envisioned within the scope of this project are carefully selected to be appropriate for the complexity of the activities and enhance transboundary institutional collaboration. In essence, the project can be viewed as two projects under a shared goal, as the two case studies are (1) located in different countries and in different river basins, (2) influenced by different sociopolitical circumstances, and (3) affected by different legal and administrative structures. The three regional partners involved under the auspices of the lead institution, IWMI, (1) the Tashkent Institute of Irrigation and Melioration under the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan; (2) the Sogd Water Authority in Tajikistan; and (3) the Institute of Sanitary, Hygiene, and Professional Disease, Department of the Hygiene of Water and Soil, under the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan. These transboundary partnerships build on and strengthen existing coordination established under two previous projects in PEER Cycles 4 and 5 between the transboundary government agencies. The project’s US partners are Dr. James Ayars from the US Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Services and Dr. Catherine A. Berry from the University of Nevada, Reno.
Summary of Overall Activities:
The project team was able to complete essentially all of the project activities and outputs outlined in the initial work plan despite obstacles faced due to COVID-19 pandemic. The research plan focused on assessing the potential impact of improvements in the water use efficiency and energy use intensity on the downstream water availability and environment and on evaluating whether improved irrigation management can make rural livelihoods more ‘sustainable’ and reduce health issues by decreasing water pollution and carbon emissions in the example of two intensive energy-use pump irrigated areas of Sogd Province, Tajikistan and Kashkadarya Province, Uzbekistan.
One of the main objectives of this research project was to identify management practices and strategies to improve water and energy use in the Amudarya and Syrdarya river basins of Central Asia. Specifically, the project focused on assessments of water-use efficiency and energy-use intensity of different irrigation schemes at two sites in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It built on the previous achievements of a PEER Cycle 6 project including: (i) a geodatabase for the two study areas containing over 40 thematic maps that was developed; (ii) demonstration of water-saving technologies and assessment of irrigation efficiency for furrow, gated pipe and drip irrigation schemes in the study area was undertaken; and, (iii) evaluation of water-saving technologies and methods documenting the costs and benefits to the government, farmers, and the society.
Lessons to date indicate a high value and utility of applying findings from project activities and outputs to improve water management practices and increase water and energy saving. Therefore, it is very important that the results, data, and evidence generated by this PEER funded project be promoted and used as a basis for informing and impacting policy decisions at the local, national, and regional levels. Specifically, data and information from the geodatabase can inform water and energy management practices at the farm level, e.g. the crop classification maps and evapotranspiration (ET) maps can be used to calculate specific crop water requirements by location and crop stage. Educating decision makers about the costs and benefits about water-saving technologies (compared to the status quo) could foster policies to increase the uptake of such technologies, which could improve water-use efficiency in the region, which is paramount given that agriculture plays a huge role in the economic development of the two riparian countries and that water scarcity is becoming an increasingly significant policy issue that needs to be addressed.
The overarching objective of project activities was to support informed and evidence-based decision making by sharing the results, data, and evidence from the PEER project with policymakers, water users, and civil society. During the last year of the project, the team did their best to translate the project outputs into meaningful and sustainable development impacts The project findings to date show that only three water saving technologies (gated pipes, polyethylene film, and drip irrigation) are used at the study sites with little consideration of suitability of these technologies or other alternatives to particular crop or farm conditions. The evaluation and economic analysis of water-saving technologies and practices demonstrates the potential for water and energy saving and improved agricultural outcomes, which should be shared with relevant stakeholders in the two developing countries whose populations are highly dependent on agriculture in their daily lives (e.g., income and nutrition).
The team made strong efforts to share project results, data and evidence with the community and policymakers through multimedia materials. This involved a range of communication channels selected depending on the data and/or audience. The geodatabases for Zafarabad and Karshi Steppe, for example, were disseminated in hard copies and USB storage devices and shared with the local, national and regional water authorities, WUAs, and donor organizations. This has enabled easy access to the geodatabase information on site characteristics, enabling remote users with no internet connection to access the information. Increasing the user base for the geodatabase will help ensure it is tested and assessed by more people enabling useful feedback on information contained in the database. To increase knowledge about the general project information and findings on water saving technology options, new printed materials including brochures and factsheets in local languages Russian and English were developed. Additional material have been made available in digital form on the IWMI-CA webpage and social media platforms on Facebook. The data and information sharing was supported with direct contact with relevant stakeholders (office and field visits), participation in external events (e.g. national and regional symposiums, conferences, roundtable discussions), and through organizing targeted workshops that brought together water practitioners, researchers, decision makers and the donor community.
The project team organized workshops to disseminate information to policymakers and to draft policy recommendations on the use of water-saving technologies based on evidence acquired through work on the PEER project. The PI and project team disseminated PEER project research findings by engaging farmers and policymakers. The workshops held within the framework of the project involved relevant members of the governments of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as well as other regional stakeholders in the efforts to develop a regional water management strategy and policy framework on water use. Special focus was given to innovative methods and strategies in water policy and governance to engage stakeholders in solving complex problems in the Amudarya and Syrdarya river basins. In all of the workshops, the organizers presented community findings and proposed specific recommendations to improve management practices and policies. The project team has also coordinated with local universities, research organizations, and other parts of civil society to achieve a stronger policy impact. The PI and the project team made concerted efforts to engage with local universities, research organization, and other parts of civil society to continuously share project findings and promote their use as evidence bases in other research projects (e.g., student theses, research papers, peer-reviewed publications, etc.) to increase the visibility of project results, data, and evidence and promote their application in practice and policymaking.
The project activities aimed to translate the project results and outputs into long-lasting impact. This will be hopefully in the form of a combination of policy changes and demand side resource use improvements triggered by improved knowledge on water saving technology solutions. Governments in the region currently provide incentives that at times are incompatible with agricultural sustainability goals. For instance, both water and energy for agriculture are subsidized encouraging excess water use. However, the governments also subsidize water saving technologies, which will hopefully lead to more positive outcomes for water users. The project activities tried to help reduce unsustainable practices by increasing knowledge through user-friendly decision support tools, such as an atlas containing GIS and RS/EO based mapping tools, and information about alternate technologies for water saving, resulting in evidence-based policymaking and improved water management practices. By bringing together government officials, authorities on water use, farmers, researchers, and other stakeholders in workshops, the project team hoped to connect theory, practice, and policy, which will then result in outcomes and impacts that will benefit the livelihood of millions of people in Central Asia.
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