President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan chaired a meeting dedicated to improving the efficiency of water fund land use and managing mudflow waters. It was emphasized that water infrastructure should be viewed not only as a technical system but also as an economic asset.
The country continues to concrete riverbeds and canals with a total length of 150,000 kilometers, with 3 trillion soums allocated for this purpose. To date, 2,000 kilometers of main canals have been concreted, 721 kilometers of canals built, and 525 kilometers of trays and closed networks constructed. As a result, water supply to 858,000 hectares of land has improved, and 51,000 hectares have been brought into agricultural circulation. The measures are expected to save 1.3 billion cubic meters of water annually, equivalent to the yearly water consumption of Navoi region.
The meeting highlighted that using coastal zones of rivers, canals, reservoirs, and lakes for tourism, services, and entrepreneurship is one of the fastest-growing areas of the global economy. Such projects contribute to increasing land and property values, regional development, attracting investment, creating jobs, and improving environmental sustainability.
According to global estimates, every dollar invested in tourism projects around water infrastructure can yield an economic return of $3 to $10. In Uzbekistan, about 100,000 hectares of water fund land suitable for commercial and tourist facilities have been identified. Their development could provide employment for around 100,000 people and generate additional income of 220 billion soums per year.
To expand business participation in the sector, new mechanisms will be introduced. Specifically, the processes of leasing water fund lands, monitoring, contracting, and reporting will be moved online. Entrepreneurs will be engaged in cleaning reservoirs, canals, collectors, and lakes from sediments and soil without tenders. In places where sand and gravel accumulation leads to bank erosion and flooding, their extraction will be allowed, with extraction volumes to be calculated by the Space Research and Technology Agency. Land plots freed from water in reservoirs and mudflow accumulators will be leased through auctions for growing crops.
Special attention was paid to mudflow management. Due to climate change, short-term heavy rains have become more frequent in recent years, increasing mudflow and flood threats, especially in mountainous and foothill areas of Samarkand, Jizzakh, and Tashkent regions. Mudflows and floods damage not only infrastructure and agriculture but also industry, insurance, logistics, and foreign trade. At the same time, mudflows are considered a significant source of water resources: about 690 million cubic meters of water flow annually through 60 major sai (dry riverbeds) without effective use.
In this regard, the head of state instructed to introduce an integrated approach to mudflow management, not limited to building protective structures. New projects should simultaneously aim to reduce mudflow danger, accumulate water, and develop agriculture, energy, fisheries, tourism, and services. Implementing such measures will bring about 13,000 hectares of land back into circulation and improve water supply to regions.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the president gave a number of instructions to responsible officials to turn water infrastructure into a source of economic activity, reduce mudflow and flood threats, efficiently use water resources, and expand private sector participation.
Source: podrobno.uz