LocationsUNDP hosted a series of workshops on climate-resilient water resource management in the Ferghana Valley
October 24, 2022
UNDP in partnership with Uzhydromet hosted the second basin planning workshop to build a better understanding of the current state and potential impact of climate change on livelihoods of people in selected pilot (national) river basin areas in the Ferghana Valley. The event is a follow-up meeting of the first workshop that took place on August 29th and 30th, 2022, where together with 40 government officials, basin organizations, local and national water professionals, experts, and mid-carrier policy makers selected 3 pilot (national) river basins in the Ferghana Valley for further actions. This time, the aim was to discuss the existing climate-related risks to include them in the three pilot river basin plans, elaboration of plans, and to develop a plan for further joint actions on eliminating climate-induced risks.
The event was organized by UNDP and Uzhydromet, EU-funded project “Climate Change and Resilience in Central Asia”. The project is aimed at supporting stability and climate-resilient development in the Fergana Valley, a transboundary area among the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. One of the key interventions of the project is to enhance river basin management plans to improve sustainable use of water resources in the national part of the Ferghana Valley.
The participants highlighted current water and environmental issues of the selected Mailysai, Shakhimardonsay and Padshata river basins and made recommendations on improving the situation with climate change risks. As transboundary cooperation plays a vital role in future planning, the participants developed effective mechanisms to strengthen the efforts between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in this direction.
Extreme weather events. particularly mudflows, have become more frequent in the rivers of the Ferghana Valley, and these threats can cause natural disasters due to the lack of early warning mechanisms for the local population. This issue was also at the center of the discussion among the participants. They formulated a water policy that takes into account the climate fragility risk and developed river basin management plans that will allow for forecasting and informing the population of the Ferghana Valley about impending natural disasters.
For the sustainable management of small river basins, experts suggested that it is essential to introduce resource-saving technologies, restoration of riverbeds after natural disasters, digitalization of the water accounting system, and prepared the compiling matrix of actions for 2023.
The event concluded with a field trip was organized to Podshota river basin to witness the realities of climate change.
