Water management skills for Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is rich in energy resources such as oil and gas, but water resources are scarce in the former Soviet Republic. Over the past four years, experts from the Umweltbundesamt, the Environment Agency Austria, have supported the Uzbek authorities in an EU project which aimed at digitalizing water data and improving water quantity and quality management. For this reason, the water cadaster was converted into a geo-information system, a strategic environmental assessment for river basin management plans was introduced and water legislation was modernized. During study trips to Vienna, Uzbek water management experts gained insight into the Austrian water information system WISA and its applications as well as into the development of the Europe-wide spatial data infrastructure within the framework of the EU initiative INSPIRE (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Union).

The project “Sustainable management of water resources in rural areas in Uzbekistan” was led by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). Further partners were the Italian Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) as local partner on site.