Water in Central Asia (CAWa)

Objective of the project: Assisting Central Asian States in the creation of an scientifically-based and reliable regional database for development of a sustainable water management strategy.

Partners: 

  • German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), Potsdam, Germany
  • Central Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences
  • Hydromet services of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan andUzbekistan German Aerospace Center (DLR)
  • Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
  • Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Gissen, Germany
  • Julius Maximilians University, Wurzburg, Germany
  • Glaciological commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences
  • University of Idaho, USA
  • UNESCO - International Hydrological Program (UNESCO-IHP)
  • Scientific-Information Center of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission of the Central Asia (SIC ICWC), Uzbekistan
  • Academy of Sciences, Tajikistan

Project’s structure: 

  • Hydrometeorological monitoring network and geodatabase
  • Regional water resources and climate modeling
  • Regional water resources management
  • Education and training 

Outcome:

  1. A modern transboundary network of 11 hydro-meteorological monitoring stations located in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan is developed and installed. Each station includes a set of different sensors and satellite data transmission in real time. Sensor Data Storage System (SDSS) is created to collect and store data.
  2. A regional hydrological model is developed to assess the water resources of the Central Asian region. 
  3. Various scenarios of land and water use impact on hydrological processes are evaluated, and the hydrodynamic role of the Aral Sea is determined.
  4. Databases, climatological and hydrological models, as well as recommendations for best practice in water use and irrigation are provided.
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Publications:

T. Schone, C. Zech, K. Unger-Shayesteh, V. Rudenko, H. Thoss, H.-U. Wetzel, A. Gafurov, J. Illigner, and A. Zubovich. A new permanent multi-parameter monitoring network in Central Asian high mountains – from measurements to data bases. Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 2, 97–111, 2013 www.geosci-instrum-method-data-syst.net/2/97/2013/ doi:10.5194/gi-2-97-2013