Water Management and Drought Mitigation Strategies:

Application of IWMI experience for CAC region

Iskandar Abdullaev, Kahramon JumaboevIskandar Abdullaev, Kahramon Jumaboev

Themes to present• IWMI- International Water Management Institute

• General info on Droughts and other natural disasters

• IWMI activities and its relation to the Drought Mitigation:– IWMI Research on drought, IWMI Drought Center Initiative, ADAPT project

– Management of Drought In Central Asia: Water Management Institution• IWRM Fergana project

– Management of Drought In Central Asia: Water and Land Conservation practices• “Best” practices project on water conservation

• “Bright” spots project

– Conclusions: how to cope drought

Type & Distribution of water-related natural disasters, 1990-2001

• More than 2,200 major and minor water-related disasters occurred in the world between 1990 and 2001. Asia and Africa were the most affected continents, with floods accounting for half of these disasters.

General statistics

• There were 2,200 water-related disasters from 1990 to 2001.   - Floods: 50%    - Water-borne and vector disease outbreaks: 28%    - Droughts: 11%    - Landslide and avalanche events: 9%    - Famine: 2%

General statistics

• During the 2000 to 2003 period, droughts in South Asia affected more than 100 million people with severe impacts felt in Western India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran.

• Only in Iran:– Water levels in 36 rivers dropped by 45% during this period.– Of the rural population, 60% were affected.– 2.8 million tons of wheat were destroyed.– More than 800,000 animals died from lack of water and fodder.– 8.4 million hectares of orchards and crops were lost and 9.6

million hectares of forested land endangered.

• Research shows that by 2025, 48 countries will face water stress and of these countries, 40 are in West Asia, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa

IWMI Research on drought

• IWMI Research at Gerdiz Basin (Turkey), Krindi Oya (Sri Lanka), Pakistan, Afghanistan and India: – Assessment of drought through RS/GIS and

Forecasting of drought in Southeast Asia– Drought coping strategies for Irrigation Systems

• IWMI Regional Center on Drought and Agriculture

Assessment of drought through RS/GIS and Forecasting of drought in Southeast

Drought mitigation strategies for Irrigation Systems

• Irrigation agencies need a formal water allocation policy that includes contingency plans for different degrees of water shortage

• Allocation rules under both normal and drought conditions should be understood and accepted by farmers- water users

• Under water-short conditions, allocation decisions should be made at basin and system levels rather than at local distribution system levels

• To make systems less vulnerable to drought, irrigation planning must take into consideration changes in the catchment area. Up-to-date data should be used to capture development-related changes in the watershed and climate changes

Drought Mitigation strategies for Irrigation Systems

• Early warning systems that monitor changing conditions and trigger contingency plans at the first sign of water shortage offer water managers and farmers the best chance of avoiding crop failure

• Water saving techniques, such as precision irrigation, zero tillage, raised bed planting and laser leveling of fields, can help farmers make the best use of scarce supplies and improve the productivity of water, even under normal conditions

IWMI Regional Centeron Drought and Agriculture (Iran)

• Development, operation and maintenance of a regional drought and flood monitoring and assessment system (s) and associated tools, methods, databases and models;

• Research on droughts and floods as related to agriculture and the environment, with a special view to improving the capacity of natural resources managers to deal with droughts and floods

• Capacity building and advice on drought and flood monitoring and assessment, and their impact on agriculture and environment, for the countries in the region

• Dissemination of information on droughts and floods and the accuracy of drought prediction in terms of time and space

ADAPT project-climate change

• Forecasting of the Climate change

• Deficit of water resources in Syr Darya basin

Scenario

Unmet demands, km3/year

Normal year

Dry year

Wet year

Reference 3.9 11.7 -1.9Pessimistic scenario

(10% applicatio

n)10% 3.8 11.7 -1.9Optimistic

-real scenario

25% 3.4 11.3 -2.1100% 2.4 10.1 -2.6

Management of Drought In Central Asia: Water Management Institution

• IWRM Fergana project:– 3 phases supported by SDC, partnership with SIC ICWC– 4 levels and 3 countries of Ferghana Valley: (1) National, (2)

Main Canal , (3) WUAs and (4) below WUA Level

– Results:• New water management institutions (principles of IWRM)• Public participation at all levels (UWU, WUA Councils and

WUGs)• Better planning, distribution of water for different uses • Water saving methods, efficiency of water use at the field

level and equip farmers with better plane and use of irrigation water

Management of Drought In Central Asia: Water and Land Conservation practices

• “Best” practices project on water conservation (2001-2003):

– to study water users’ initiatives in water conservation and productive use of irrigation water

– to select the best water conservation methods– to promote and apply them to the practices of irrigated agriculture to study water users’

initiatives in water

• “Bright” spots project (2005- ongoing)– Identify and promote the expansion of community based innovations termed ‘Bright’

spots that prevent further land and water degradation and enhance the livelihoods of agrarian communities in the target countries.

– (ii) Evaluate plant species and management systems that have the potential to increased productivity and income generation on saline soils through farmer participatory trials in the three target countries.

– (iii) Enhance the capacity of national research and extension services to develop and promote innovative strategies that address land water resource degradation.

Impact of different water conservation method on crop yields and water supply rates.

Water conservation measures In comparison with pre-conservation period (1996-1999)

(Pilot farms)

Average means (2001)(All farms)

Yield (cotton) increase, %

Water Supply Decrease, %

Yield (cotton) increase, % Water Supply Decrease, %

Field Level (average for all reaches of the basin)-up to 10 ha

Shorter furrows 20 20 8 1

Succession of wet and dry furrows 20 30 17 23

Soil surface leveling 10 10 27 15

Reuse of water at the field level 10 20 23 13

Farm Level (average for all reaches of the basin)-up to 1500 ha

Partial rehabilitation of irrigation and collector-drainage network

10 0.15 17 29

Repairing and equipping gauging stations, water accounting in on-farm level

10 0.15 17 31

Avoiding final release of water- containment and minimizing/eliminating drainage from fields

- 0.15 24 30

Change of crop pattern (cultivation of drought- tolerant and higher cash crops)

20 0.15 42 25

WMO level (average for all reaches of the basin)-up to 35000 ha

Water rotation in irrigation system - 0.13 18 31

Improvement of water use discipline - 0.13 10 38

Assistance to farmers on water use planning 10 0.13 5 26

WUA establishment - 0.13 5 34

Conclusions: How to mitigate Droughts

• Drought is the serous issue for whole Asia and particularly for the Central Asia

• Most effective means of coping drought are water conservation and water productivity improvments at the different levels

• Institutional aspects of coping with drought in irrigated areas: new water institutions at different levels

Extending the IWMI Drought center to the Central Asia and Caucasus countries

• Drought Early Warning System (DEWS)

• Availability of Updated Online Spatial

• Data and Knowledge for the Region

• Knowledge Sharing and Dissemination

• Capacity Building

Thank you!