The 21st century is becoming not the century of oil or gas, but the century of water. Today, population growth, global climate change, worsening drought, intensive glacier melt, and shrinking freshwater reserves have made water security one of the most pressing issues on the international agenda. According to the United Nations, billions of people around the world still lack full access to safe drinking water, while demand continues to grow every year. This is why developed and developing countries are no longer competing over how much water they consume, but over how rationally they manage it and how efficiently they save every drop.
These processes are becoming even more significant for Central Asia. The shrinking of mountain glaciers, the region's main source of water, the variability of transboundary river flows, and the effects of the climate crisis require states to adopt fundamentally new approaches to this issue.
Uzbekistan recognized the scale of these challenges early on and elevated water security to the level of state policy. The fact that the country is located in a semi-arid climate zone, with about 80% of its water resources formed outside its borders, made radical reform of the sector a strategic priority. The systemic reforms carried out in subsequent years have received high praise not only domestically but also on the international stage.
As the issue of water security becomes increasingly urgent worldwide, important news for Uzbekistan was announced during the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at UN Headquarters in New York. The republic’s reforms in water conservation and effective water resource management received high marks from the United Nations.
UN-Water recognized Uzbekistan as one of three countries in the world to have achieved the highest results in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 6 – “Clean Water and Sanitation”, specifically Target 6.4, which calls for improving the efficiency of water use.
Equally important is the fact that Uzbekistan’s practical experience in water resource management was selected by international experts as a “Country Acceleration Case Study” – a model example for other countries.
This is clear evidence that the results of the water sector reforms carried out in our country have been recognized internationally.
Saving water is not a choice for Uzbekistan – it is a necessity.
Currently, about 90–91% of the country's available water resources are directed toward the needs of the agricultural sector. At the same time, because irrigation networks lacked concrete lining for decades, annual water losses due to seepage into the ground averaged 14 billion cubic meters. This amounts to roughly 36 percent of the total volume of water used.
Climate change is further intensifying this threat. By the end of 2025, the country’s total water resources had decreased by 6.5 billion cubic meters compared to the previous year. According to specialists' forecasts, if current trends continue, the water deficit will reach 7 billion cubic meters by 2030 and 15 billion cubic meters by 2050.
For this reason, the economical use of water, its precise accounting, and the efficient use of every drop have become one of the priority areas of state policy.
The “Uzbekistan – 2030” Strategy adopted in recent years, along with presidential decrees and resolutions, have brought the development of the water sector to a qualitatively new level.
As part of the Concept for the Development of the Water Sector for 2020-2030, large-scale modernization of irrigation systems, the introduction of digital technologies, and the practical implementation of the Smart Water system have begun.
Most importantly, these reforms are producing real results rather than remaining only on paper.
In 2025 alone, water-saving technologies such as drip and sprinkler irrigation were introduced on 817,200 hectares. As a result, 2.3 billion cubic meters of water were saved in a single year.
According to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), water-saving technologies are now used on approximately 60% of the country’s 4.3 million hectares of irrigated land. This allows more than 10 billion cubic meters of water to be saved annually.
By 2028, this figure is planned to increase to 80 percent.
Another important area of water conservation is the modernization of irrigation infrastructure.
In 2025, approximately 1,000 kilometers of main canals were lined with concrete, and work continues on an additional 1,300 kilometers in 2026. This significantly reduces water losses from seepage and allows for the additional conservation of about 500 million cubic meters of water annually.
At the same time, digital online water metering devices are being installed at hydraulic structures, and pumping stations are being modernized.
This ensures savings not only in water but also in electricity. While the sector consumed 8.3 billion kWh of electricity in 2017, this figure had fallen to 6.4 billion kWh by 2025.
Reforms in the water sector are not limited to infrastructure development alone.
The electronic platform suvkredit.uz was launched to support farmers and agricultural clusters. Through it, projects introducing water-saving technologies receive financing on preferential terms – including a two-year grace period, no collateral requirement, and reduced interest rates.
In the first half of 2025 alone, 73 billion soums in subsidies were allocated from the state budget for this purpose.
In addition, by 2030, the “School of Water Specialists” program, launched on the President's initiative, aims to upgrade the skills of more than 45,000 farmers and water sector specialists.
This is becoming an important step in fostering a culture of careful water use. Transformations in the water sector are also directly reflected in the quality of life of the population.
According to the State Committee on Statistics, the share of households with access to clean drinking water rose from 67.4% to 79.4% between 2020 and 2025.
Particularly notable growth occurred in regions that previously faced serious water supply problems.
In the Kashkadarya region, for example, this figure rose from 34.8% to 61.8%, while in the Khorezm region it rose from 40.6% to 72.4%.
These figures demonstrate that infrastructure projects implemented in remote regions are bearing fruit.
The UN’s recognition of Uzbekistan’s experience as a model for the world is far from accidental. It is international acknowledgment of the consistent and forward-looking water resource management policy pursued by our country in recent years.
Today, water is not merely a natural resource. It has become a key factor in economic progress, food security, environmental sustainability, and regional cooperation.
Drawing on its own model – based on water conservation, the introduction of digital management, infrastructure modernization, and human capital development – Uzbekistan is not only protecting its national interests but, amid intensifying climate change, is also demonstrating a new path of sustainable development for all of Central Asia.
Conserving water is not only a task for today, but also a responsibility to future generations. The UN’s high assessment once again confirms that Uzbekistan is fulfilling this responsible mission through concrete, practical action.
Shakhzoda Rakhimova,
Expert, NGO “Center for Sustainable Development”