Study of data flow and information needs related to water demand and supply in the irrigation sector at local and national level

A new SDC/SECO 2012-2015 Water Programme has been defined, which include activities to achieve ‘A transparent mechanism for the exchange of water related data and a decision support system introduced at national level and coordinated at regional level, facilitating decision making processes’. The exchange of robust, reliable data is a key challenge for the development of any water resource DSS, not only at the regional but also the national level.
Kyrgyzstan is located upstream of the Syrdarya, one of the two main transboundary water basins of the Aral Sea. As most streams in Central Asia, the Syrdarya, is concerned with inter-state conventions allocating water dowstream to more than 50% of its internal renewable water resources. Kyrghyzstan has the biggest regional water storage, whose function is hydroelectricity production, the only endogenous source of energy. Agriculture, with 20% of the GDP, represents a strong economic sector using more than 90% of total national water abstraction. However, at local level, farmers and water managers are lacking data and information to assess accurately global needs.
SDC will develop, as part of its water programme, a new project targeting improved water data and information flow and management at the local and national level and the linkages to the regional coordination. Considering the running activities related to data management in Central Asia which are technically coordinated by the International Office for Water (OIEau), SDC has been asking OIEau to manage a preliminary study.
Two missions took place in May and July 2012, a special focus was done on the Ferghana area, and a national worshop was organized in order to discuss the provisional findings.