On November, 2 Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited the important Bad-Bad irrigation canal in the Bulungur district in the Samarkand region as part of her visit to the Republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. This canal was rehabilitated in 2011 with the support of the AA commissioned project “Transboundary Water Management in Central Asia” as part of a confidence-building pilot measure.
The main water intake structure of the canal was rebuilt and electrified, and the canal was repaired, and the local water managers were supported with trainings and respective technical equipment. After the rehabilitation work, the efficiency of water supply and water use increased, and water loss decreased significantly from 40 % to 7-10 %. The capacity of the head water intake structure increased from 8 m3/s to 15 m3/s.
Foreign Minister Baerbock met with the Deputy Water Minister of Uzbekistan, Mr. Karshiyev, at the canal, where he briefed about water management in the context of climate change. Mr. Karshiyev explained Uzbekistan’s approach to water sector reform, as well as to the transboundary water cooperation, especially with regard to the dependence of the downstream countries on the two main rivers “water supply“ of the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.
The importance of regional cooperation for conflict prevention in the Aral Sea Basin was emphasized constantly. The Green Central Asia Initiative, as the follower of the Berlin Process, contributes to this by supporting a political dialogue process at the regional level. Within the framework of this dialogue, a Regional Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change in Central Asia with a focus on water is currently being developed. The first draft of the Strategy is currently being agreed in the partner countries.
The complicated Central Asian irrigation system on the two major rivers (Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya) was explained to the Minister with the illustration of a schematic map of the Aral Sea Basin and on the canal itself.
Foreign Minister Baerbock informed that the Foreign Office would convene a climate conference in close cooperation with OSCE and encouraged Green Central Asia Initiative to take part in it.
At the end of the visit, she expressed her commitment to further German support for the water sector in Uzbekistan.
