President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting on measures to ensure the efficient use of water resources and mudflow waters.

In Uzbekistan, the rational use of water resources, the modernization of irrigation systems, and ensuring water conservation have become key areas of state policy, with ongoing reforms in this sphere already yielding tangible results.

In particular, the ongoing concreting of the beds of the country’s rivers and canals, with a total length of 150,000 kilometers, makes it possible to save 1.3 billion cubic meters of water annually, equivalent to the annual water consumption of the Navoiy region. To date, 2,000 kilometers of main canals have been concreted, while 721 kilometers of canals, 525 kilometers of flumes, and closed pipeline networks have been built. A total of 3 trillion soums has been allocated for these purposes. As a result, water supply has improved across 858,000 hectares, and 51,000 hectares of land have been brought back into agricultural use.

It was emphasized at the meeting that water infrastructure should be regarded not only as a technical facility, but also as an economic asset. It was noted that today, the use of coastal zones of rivers, canals, reservoirs, and lakes for tourism development, recreation areas, service facilities, and entrepreneurship has become a major economic trend worldwide.

Such projects contribute to increasing the value of real estate and land plots, revitalizing the economies of districts and cities, expanding domestic tourism and the service sector, attracting investment, creating new jobs, and improving environmental sustainability.

World experience shows that the economic return from every dollar invested in tourism projects around water infrastructure is estimated at between three and ten dollars.

In this regard, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev stressed that responsible departments and khokims must work systematically to transform water infrastructure facilities into economically efficient projects.

A number of new opportunities will be created in this regard. In particular, the extraction of sand and gravel will be permitted in areas where their accumulation leads to bank erosion and flooding. Entrepreneurs will be allowed to carry out the clearing of reservoirs and mudflow retention basins, canals, collectors, natural lakes, and hydraulic structures from sediment and soil without tender procedures. In addition, land plots within reservoirs and mudflow catchments that have become free of water will be leased through auctions for agricultural cultivation.

At the same time, it was noted that these opportunities are not being used effectively enough in some regions. Around 100,000 hectares of water fund land suitable for business, tourism, and recreational projects have been identified. These areas could provide employment for 100,000 people and generate an additional 220 billion soums in annual income.

Responsible officials were instructed to introduce an information system that would move the leasing of water fund lands, monitoring, contract procedures, and reporting processes online. The Space Research and Technology Agency was tasked with accurately calculating the volume of sand and gravel extracted from riverbeds and water management facilities and submitting the relevant data to responsible departments.

The meeting also specifically addressed the use of mudflow and flood waters.

It was noted that, due to climate change, short-term heavy rainfall has become more frequent in recent years, increasing the threat of mudflows and floods. The mountainous and foothill areas of the Samarkand, Jizzakh, and Tashkent regions were identified as particularly prone to mudflow hazards.

Mudflows and flood waters cause damage not only to infrastructure and agriculture, but also to industry, the insurance sector, logistics, and foreign trade. At the same time, mudflows represent not only a source of risk, but also significant potential for replenishing water resources.

Across 60 major mudflow-prone streams, approximately 690 million cubic meters of water are lost annually without effective use. It was noted that the rational use of these resources would make it possible to bring 13,000 hectares of land back into use, improve water supply, and create conditions for the development of fisheries.

In this regard, the Head of State emphasized the need for an integrated approach to managing mudflow waters, one not limited solely to the construction of dams. Such an approach involves the simultaneous implementation of projects aimed at reducing mudflow risks, storing water resources, and developing agriculture, energy, fisheries, tourism, and the service sector.

The President issued a number of instructions to responsible officials on transforming water infrastructure into a source of economic activity, reducing mudflow and flood risks, ensuring the effective use of water resources, and expanding private sector participation in the sector.