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Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus Lecture: Safety of hydrotechnical facilities in Central Asia

The future of Central Asia will be largely influenced by the rational and coordinated use of water and energy resources. Accordingly, Central Asia’s infrastructure for water delivery and transport will play a key role for supporting livelihood and promoting sustainable use.

To strengthen the water management complex in Central Asia, countries are devoting significant effort and money to designing new hydrotechnical structures and developing long-term plans hydropower, irrigation and water management. More than 100 large dams and thousands of small low-pressure hydraulic structures now operate in Central Asia, each one contributing to the long-term and seasonal regulation of river flow, serving agricultural and industrial needs for water (and electricity), and meeting the social, safety and economic needs of communities.

As many of these structures were built more than 50–60 years ago and are located on transboundary watercourses, the issue of their maintenance and safe operation is a major concern.

In this context, the 19th WEFE Nexus lecture will focus on this topic will explore the following questions: 

  • What is the current state of Central Asia’s hydrotechnical infrastructure, including questions about service life, maintenance, and risk assessment as a result of accidents at hydrotechnical structures?
  • What are the basic principles of state regulation for safe operation of hydraulic structures in Central Asia (e.g., the legal frameworks and organizations responsible for ensuring safe operation)?
  • What are some successful examples in Central Asia of countries modernizing hydraulic structures and establishing bilateral and multilateral cooperation on joint operation?
  • How can the WEFE Nexus approach inform and improve safe operation of hydrotechnical structures in Central Asia?

For this lecture, we are pleased to be joined by our distinguished speaker:

Talipov Shukhrat Ganiyevich, Director of the LLC Center for Assessment and Monitoring of the Safety of Hydrotechnical Structures (established by the Joint Stock Company Uzbekhydroenergo).


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