Ashgabat, December 20, 2019: The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the State Committee for Water Resources of Turkmenistan held a seminar to improve monitoring of the use of water resources and planning for water use in irrigation systems.

The seminar was held with the participation of more than 20 specialists from state and private agricultural departments, private entrepreneurs and farmers in the framework of the GEF-funded project “Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for Sustainable Water Management in Turkmenistan”.

“Our project conducts research in the field of rational use of water and water regulation. We regularly share our accumulated knowledge in the field of water use, including water metering and water use planning for irrigation systems, as it is today,” said Geldy Myradov, project manager.

During the seminar, methods for organizing water accounting and modern methods for measuring water consumption in irrigation systems, statistical data on the relationship between the yield and water costs were presented; an example of planning for calculating the cost of irrigation water in irrigation canals based on the water consumption of crops during various periods of its growing season at the level of water-user farms as applied to its soil-reclamation and economic conditions is presented; an economic overview of the previous steps of the project for the construction of a water main, installation of five pumping units, which were included in the country's water management system, is presented.

“UNDP and the GEF are convinced that decision-making based on research yields greater results. For example, the results of the scientific activities of young specialists at the research field in Geokdepe were used to develop the new National Strategy for Climate Change, and this gives us confidence in the correctness of our activities,” continued Chary Taganov, project specialist.

Participants also discussed standard methods for measuring water flow in the irrigation network channels, which are widely used in Turkmenistan. Particular attention was paid to methods for improving water metering and their automation, which can be used on canals and structures to create automated water metering systems.

At the seminar, participants got the opportunity to get acquainted with the designs of various anti-filtration linings used on irrigation canals to reduce filtration losses and indicators of their effectiveness. Particular attention was paid to the use of impervious cladding made of local building materials.