Beyond the Aral Sea Syndrome: Economic and Ecological Restructuring of Land- and Water Use in the Region Khorezm (Uzbekistan)

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Beyond the Aral Sea SyndromeEconomic and
Ecological Restructuring of Land- and Water Use
in the Region Khorezm (Uzbekistan)

• Ahmad M. Manschadi, John P.A. Lamers, Iskandar
  Abdullayev, Christopher Conrad, Asia Khamzina,
  Bernhard Tischbein, Mehmood Ul Hassan, Gerd
  Rücker, Paul L G Vlek and many others

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Aral Sea Crisis and Khorezm Project

• Aral Sea Syndrome
• refers to the problems associated with
  centrally planned, large-scale projects involving
  water resource development
• Desiccation of Aral Sea the greatest
  environmental catastrophe ever caused to regional
  water resources by mankind

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Aral Sea Crisis and Khorezm Project

• Desiccation of Aral Sea
• Area diminished by 74volume by 90
• 10-fold increase in water salinity (from 10 to
  gt100 g -1)
• Creation of Aralkum desert
• Decimation of native fish species

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Aral Sea Crisis and Khorezm Project

• Desiccation of Aral Sea
• Area diminished by 74volume by 90
• 10-fold increase in water salinity (from 10 to
  gt100 g -1)
• Creation of Aralkum desert
• Decimation of native fish species

• Initiation of dust/salt storms
• Degradation of deltaic biotic communities
• Collapse of the fisheries Loss of livelihood for
  60,000 people
• Local climate change
• Human health problems

NASA MODIS Image May 11, 2007 - Dust Storm over
the South Aral Sea
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Aral Sea Crisis and Khorezm Project

• Aral Sea water balance

• Aral Sea Restoration?
• average annual discharge in the next 20-30 years
  10 km3
• Restoring size and level to pre-1960s 46
  km3
• Reducing irrigation water use by 50 ( 50 km3)
• 16 billion USD invested in renovation of
  irrigation network would save 12 km3
• Full restoration appears impossible

(Micklin 2007)
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Aral Sea Crisis and Khorezm Project

• Expansion of irrigation 5 to 7.9 million ha
  between 1965 and 2000
• Reduction in Aral Sea surface area 5 million ha

Khorezm region 270,000 ha irrigated1.3 million
people
http//unimaps.com/aral-sea/index.html
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Khorezm Region Water Productivity

• Agricultural production and rural livelihood rely
  entirely on irrigation water supply
• Major crops cotton, wheat, rice

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Khorezm Region Regional Economy

• Cotton (White Gold) plays a key role in the
  regional economy GDP 16

Export from cotton value chain in 2005

• Only 10 of total fibre production is locally
  processed
• Underdeveloped agro-processing industry

(Rudenko, 2008)
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Khorezm Region - Characteristics

• Resource use
• Enormous, inefficient water use
• 5 km3 for 275,000 ha irrigated land (gt2000 mm )
• overall irrigation system efficiency 26
• Low soil quality
• 20 of soils bonitet lt 40 (24,000 ha marginal
  land)
• Secondary soil salinisation
• gt50  of cropland is moderately to highly saline
• Inadequate, inefficient and poorly-resourced
  irrigation management institutions

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Khorezm Region - Characteristics

• State order system
• Strong government control of farm-level
  decision-making constrains the adoption of
  innovative technologies and concepts
• Performance of agriculture sector
• Low crop yields, inefficient management and
  resource use
• Underutilised and poorly-developed
  agro-processing industry
• Rural poverty 27.5 lives below poverty line
  (1/day)
• Lack of incentives for improving land and water
  use efficiency

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ZEF/UNESCO Project

• Economic and Ecological Restructuring of Land and
  Water Use in the Region Khorezm

• Project duration 2001 - 2011
• Donor German Federal Ministray of Education and
  Research (BMBF)
• Project objectives

• Develop comprehensive, science-based
  restructuring concepts for sustainable management
  of land and water resources
• Improve the capacity of regional institutions for
  implementing the alternative approaches and
  solutions
• Serve as a model for sustainable development
  concepts throughout the Aral Sea Basin
• Academic capacity building (M.Sc. and PhD
  students).

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Uzbekistan Project

• Key research areas interdisciplinary approach

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ZEF/UNESCO Project

• Overall goal restructuring concept

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Degraded Cropland - Afforestation

• Biomass production
• N fixation
• C sequestration and soil fertility
• Soil salinity control
• Fuelwood supply
• Nutritive value of leaf fodder
• Financial profitability

March 2004
May 2006
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Productive Cropland

• Enhancing water productivity
• Socio-technical improvements in irrigation water
  distribution and management (concepts, models,
  GIS/RS-based monitoring systems)
• Increasing cropping systems productivity
• Conservation agriculture (reduced tillage,
  residue retention, crop diversification)
• Adequate fertiliser application
• Optimisation of crop allocation and production
  inputs

• Improving rural livelihoods
• Value chain analysis
• Agricultural service organisations
• Agro-processing industry

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Productive Cropland

• Implementing and adapting innovations with
  stakeholder groups Follow the Innovation
• Transdisciplinary approach

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Human Capacity Building

• PhDs total 39, completed 19
• M.Sc. Program 59 M.Sc.
• 33 Bachelors at UrDU trained
• 12 Post-Docs (6 at ZEF, 1 DLR, 5 in Urgench)
• 3 INTAS Post-Docs in Urgench
• 2 Uzbek Professorships concluded

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Scientific Output
International scientific articles 50
Books 4
Contributions at international conferences gt70
Work Papers (www.uni-bonn.de/khorezm) 11
Scientific articles in Uzbekistan 58
Contributions at conferences in Uzbekistan 25
Completed Ph.D. theses 19
Completed M.Sc. theses 59
Science/policy briefs in the ZUR series 7
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Project Partners
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Project Website

• http//www.zef.de/khorezm.0.html

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Khorezm Region

• Agricultural production and rural livelihood rely
  entirely on irrigation water supply

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Khorezm Region Water Productivity

• Arid continental climate cold winters and hot,
  dry summers
• Annual rainfall 90 mm annual evapotranspiration
  1600 mm
• Cotton (White Gold) plays a key role in the
  regional economy
• Sown on 50 of irrigated cropland
• GDP 16
• Export revenue 99
• Raw cotton 300 thousand t cotton fibre 100
  thousand t

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ZEF/UNESCO Project

• Economic and Ecological Restructuring of Land and
  Water Use in the Region Khorezm (Uzbekistan)

• Project duration 2001 - 2011
• Donor BMBF
• Project objectives
• Developing recommendations and simulation tools
  for improved agricultural policies at the
  national and regional levels
• Providing concepts for institutional
  restructuring for a more sustainable natural
  resource use
• Developing innovative land and water management
  technologies for improved productivity and
  sustainability of agricultural systems
• Academic capacity building at ZEF BIGS-DR (PhD.),
  University of Bonn (M.Sc.) and in Uzbekistan
  (PhD., M.Sc., Bachelors)

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Aral Sea Crisis and Khorezm Project

• Partial restoration of Aral Sea
• Kok-Aral Dam 13 km long blocking flow from
  Small to Large Aral
• Completed in 2005 US 85.8

(http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/)
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Aral Sea Crisis and Khorezm Project

• Partial restoration of Aral Sea (Environment News
  Service (ENS) 2008)
• 30 rise in sea surface
• Water level increased from 30 m (2003) to 42 m
  (2008)
• Salinity dropped from 30 to 12 g l-1
• Reviving of fish industry
• Improvements in sea and shoreline ecosystems

(Photo courtesy of Joel Stern)
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Irrigated Lowlands of the Amu Darya River

• Total area 1,060,000 ha
• Population 3.5 million
• Water supply through Tuyamuyun reservoir
• Dashoguz (Turkmenistan) 310,000 ha irrigated
• Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan
  (Uzbekistan) 500,000 ha irrigated
• Khorezm (Uzbekistan) 270,000 ha irrigated1.3
  million people

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Khorezm Region Water Productivity

• WUAs 116 established from 129 abolished shirkats
• weak management and governance structure
• insufficient means for operation/maintenance of
  ID network
• poorly equiped with regulation structures and
  measuring devices

(Veldwish, 2008)
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Khorezm Region Biophysical condition

• Arid continental climate cold winters and hot,
  dry summers
• Annual rainfall 90 mm annual evapotranspiration
  1600 mm

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Khorezm Region Biophysical condition

• Shallow groundwater table 1.5 m
• Moderately saline groundwater 1.75 g l-1

(Ibrakhimov et al. 2007)
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Khorezm Region Crop Production

• State order system for cotton and wheat

Photograph Kirsten Kienzler
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Khorezm Region Water Productivity

• During Soviet Union
• Aral Sea considered as Natures Error
• Strict state control over water
  supply/distribution, cropping patterns,
  agricultural practices
• Collective farms primary water users trained
  and experienced agronomists and hydro-technicians
• Very poor water use efficiency

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Khorezm Region Water Productivity

• WUAs established 116 (from 129 abolished
  shirkats)
• weak management and governance structure
• insufficient financial means for
  operation/maintenance of ID network
• poorly equiped with regulation structures and
  measuring devices

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Khorezm Region Water Productivity

• Water input (irrigation) / output (drainage) at
  meso-scale (850 ha)

Input

Output

Output
(Tischbein et al. 2007)
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Khorezm Region Water Productivity

• Blocking/re-use of drainage water to cope with
  unreliable water supply

Drainage blocking
Re-use
(Tischbein et al. 2007)
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Khorezm Region Water Productivity

• Meso-scale (850 ha)
• water input water output
• 16 million m³ 10 million m³ (62.5)

Irrigation water use leaching irrigat
ion total 700 (mm) 2000 (mm) 2700 (mm)
(Tischbein et al. 2007 Conrad et al. 2007)
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Degraded Cropland - Afforestation

• Marginal lands bonitet lt 40 points 24,000 ha

Source GIS Lab, ZEF/UNESCO project
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Degraded Cropland - Afforestation

• Actual situation
• Trees cover 4 of land
• Mainly fruit trees, poplars, mulberry
• No sound forestry basis
• Windbreaks of inadequate architecture and
  direction
• 15 local tree species screened for
• Early root growth
• Leaf biomass and feed value of leaves
• Wood biomass and calorific value of wood
• 3 species selected for afforestation of marginal
  land

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Degraded Cropland - Afforestation
Elaeagnus angustifolia L. Ulmus pumila L.
Populus euphratica Oliv.

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ZEF/UNESCO Project

• Four project phases

2001-2003 Inventory establishment of central databases and infrastructure
2004-2006 Field trials and surveys, development of first versions of integrated modelling tools
2007-2011(current phase) Integration of innovative technologies, model development and concept validation Policies, institutions, and technologies
2012-2014 Out-scaling of restructuring concept and implementation in the region (first Khorezm-wide, then to irrigated lowlands in the Aral Sea Basin)