Water availability and water use planning in the Aral Sea basin

Abstract

According to the forecast of international, regional, and Republican research institutes and design and survey institutes, in the current water management situation in the Aral Sea basin, the shortage of water resources will increase over time and space. Currently, the water supply of the territories located in the middle and lower reaches of the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers does not exceed 60-70% of the required volume, which causes significant damage to agriculture. The consequences of low water are quite noticeable in areas located in the middle and lower reaches of rivers. There are different points of view in the Republic about the possibility of mitigating water scarcity through widespread water conservation, effective regulation of river flow, improvement of operation and technical equipment of irrigation systems, the introduction of water-saving technologies for irrigation, cultivation, and introduction of drought-resistant crops. Without detracting from the importance of these measures, first of all, it is necessary to forecast and quickly establish the water level of the main water flows in the near future, and widely introduce organizational and technological methods to increase the productivity of water entering irrigated fields into production practice. Analysis of the results of long-term observations and expert assessments in various parts of the irrigated zone indicates the presence in a wide production practice of cases of irrational use by farms of water allocated by the limit, un-planned by agricultural technology surface discharge into the existing collector-drainage network. The article presents the results of calculations of water use planning taking into account the water availability of the territory on the example of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The purpose of the study is to develop organizational and technological bases for planning water use in their limited capacity, taking into account the water availability of territories on the example of the Republic of Karakalpakstan. When determining the area, composition, and structure of agricultural crops, the water availability coefficient (%) actual (m3) and required water intake (m3) to the territory are taken into account. As initial data, the results of long-term systematic observations, measurements, and expert assessments of operational and planning water use organizations of the Ministry of agriculture of the Republic of Karakalpakstan were used. The calculations were performed using a computer program compiled jointly with specialists of the Nukus State University and tested on the example of individual irrigation systems, channels, and administrative districts of the water users Association. The recommended procedure for the rapid establishment of acreage and crop structure, depending on water availability conditions, does not harm the functioning infrastructure of agricultural production.

Improving water resources management in the irrigated zone of the Aral Sea region

“…Water resources management, efficient use of irrigation water in the irrigated area as well as changes in hydraulic and hydrodynamic parameters in the living section of the canal have been worked on by many scientists, such as Balla D., Hamidov A., Khamidov M., Bazarov D., Uralov B., Matyakubov B., Vokhidov O., Koshekov R.M, Ramazanov A., Raxmatov N., Xidirov S., Bakiev M., etc. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”