Assessing Water Use, Energy Use And Carbon Emissions In Lift‐ Irrigated Areas: A Case Study From Karshi Steppe In Uzbekistan

Abstract

The advantages of a nexus approach in addressing complex environmental challenges are becoming increasingly clear. In Central Asia, however, the nexus between water–food–energy has not received adequate attention, as the very few studies that have been conducted fell short of quantifying nexus trade‐offs and benefits at a practical, small scale. This paper applies a quantitative accounting method to assess water and energy use intensity in irrigated areas of the Karshi Steppe of Central Asia that are supplied by pumping water uphill (lift‐irrigated) from the underlying river. The results indicated that the potential water and energy savings as well as the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions could be achieved by applying an optimal planning deficit irrigation schedule simulated using CROPWAT 8. Some 575 MCM (million cubic metres) of water and 259 GWh of electricity can be saved, while the CO2 equivalent emissions can be reduced by almost 122 000 t. Achieving these savings requires a mix of technical and policy components. This paper describes an example of proper irrigation planning as a tool for water/energy savings and consequent reduction of CO2 emissions. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Spatial and Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Sustainability Analysis of Groundwater in a Typical Inland River Oasis Irrigation Area

“…Obviously, our research area is a typical counterexample. Since almost all of the regional irrigation water comes from the Amudarya River, the exploitation of groundwater is rare, and backwards water resource management methods (Djumaboev et al, 2019;Karthe et al, 2015) have caused it to be different from the global trend. This provides a good example that tells us that although the exploitation of groundwater has caused many irrigation areas to face many ecological problems, groundwater should be exploited appropriately.…”

Operationalizing water-energy-food nexus research for sustainable development in social-ecological systems: an interdisciplinary learning case in Central Asia

“…The Central Asian experts brought expertise on the WEF challenges and possible future development pathways but mostly lacked systems research experience on how to conceptualize the WEF nexus challenge for an SIA. Irrigated agriculture was selected as an overarching topic given it is an illustrative, cross-scale example of WEF nexus problems (Djumaboev et al 2019) and its central relevance for food production and economic well-being in Central Asia (Hamidov et al 2016). The geographic extent of the case studies ranged from international transboundary watersheds to very local scales, with a diversity of actors and sectorial focal issues.…”

Enabling policy environment for water, food and energy security

“…Central Asia also has high energy use for irrigation due to pumping of water to a considerable height. Significant improvements are shown to be possible by Djumaboev et al (2019) who found that by better irrigation scheduling alone, more than 575 MCM (million cubic metres) and 259 GWh can be saved.…”