Groundwater resources use and management in the Amu Darya River Basin (Central Asia)

Abstract

This paper analyses groundwater resources use and management in the socioeconomic context of the Amu Darya River Basin which covers part of the following landlocked Central Asian countries: Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.These agrarian nations for sustaining their vital agricultural productions started to use groundwater during the recent drought years (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001) because of its relatively good quality and quantity and as an alternative to highly mineralized surface waters. Present extent of groundwater resources use is discussed with consideration to their reserves, quality, and institutional management and transboundary aspects within the basin. After the collapse of the centralized water resources management system and infrastructure of the former Soviet Union, new underdeveloped systems are being practiced over the whole Amu Darya River Basin. The critical situation of groundwater management in Afghanistan is also discussed.The document attempts to document the management and use of groundwater in the Amu Darya Basin and present time management realities, with fragmented and weak national and regional regulation on groundwater. Special attention is given to groundwater resources in irrigated agriculture, which increased use in all countries of the basin is due to quick access to underground resources and relatively good quality and quantity.

Groundwater resources of Uzbekistan: an environmental and operational overview

“…However the major part of the territory of Uzbekistan (about 80%) is composed of desert-steppe areas in the east. The juxtaposition of mountains and deserts exerts a great influence upon the hydrogeological conditions, thus favoring the formation of considerable groundwater resources in a number of arid regions [8]. The proximity of mountains and deserts in Central Asia determines the existence of two subtypes of groundwater formation in arid conditions, autochthonous and allochthonous [27].…”

“…The plain regions of Uzbekistan are characterized by very complicated hydrogeological conditions wherein alluvial sand, loam and clay dating from the Quaternary and Pliocene can be interstratified, giving rise in some places to confined or semi-confined aquifers [8]. Confined aquifers can also be found in the deep Cretaceous sandstone formations of the Aral Sea area and provide artesian waters.…”

“…This quantity is estimated at 6.8 km3/year for Uzbekistan [6]. However, the actual groundwater abstraction is somewhat higher at approximately 7.5 km3/year, and thus has lead to serious surface flow reduction [7][8][9][10][11].…”

Geostatistical approach for the assessment of the water reservoir capacity in arid regions: a case study of the Akdarya reservoir, Uzbekistan

“…The two main transboundary rivers of Uzbekistan, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, satisfy 82% of the total water demand of Uzbekistan, whereas only 18% of the demand is satisfied by the internal Kashka Darya, Zarafshan and Surkhan Darya rivers (Shultz, 1949;Heaven et al, 2002;Dukhovny, 2003;Micklin, 2004). At present approximately 90% of water resources in Uzbekistan are used for irrigated agriculture (UNDP, 2007;Rakhmatullaev et al, 2009) and about 24% of irrigation water comes from water reservoirs, the remaining being pumped from rivers and aquifers (FAO, 2007). The total number of man-made water reservoirs in Uzbekistan is 55 with a total volume capacity of about 19 km 3 and a useful volume capacity of 14.5 km 3 (Rakhmatullaev, 2006;UNDP, 2007).…”

Climate-driven change of nitrogen retention–attenuation near irrigated fields: multi-model projections for Central Asia

“…1a), which is large and extensive enough to be well resolved by general circulation models (GCMs). The region has been subject to large-scale irrigation development (e.g., Rakhmatullaev et al 2010;Törnqvist and Jarsjö 2012), with the irrigation area increasing from 2.5 million ha in 1910 to 7.4 million ha in 1990. This has resulted in hydrological changes at scales that thus far are unprecedented in the world, with drastic discharge decreases in the principal Amu Darya and Syr Darya Rivers, drying of the Aral Sea and water quality deterioration including salinization of the region's water sources (Jarsjö and Destouni 2004;Shibuo et al 2006;Micklin 2007;Johansson et al 2009).…”