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Water
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Water Management in Central Asia
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Water Management in Central Asia

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Resources Management, Policy and Governance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2023) | Viewed by 5878

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Markus Disse

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Chair of Hydrology and River Basin Management, School of Engineering and Design, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 80333 Munich, Germany
Interests: physically based hydrological modeling; nature based solutions for flood and drought mitigation; integrated water resources management; soil water processes and evapotranspiration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jingshui Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chair of Hydrology and River Basin Management, School of Engineering and Design，Technical University of Munich (TUM)，80333 Munich，Germany
Interests: water quality modelling; instream biogeochemical process understanding; water quality prediction under climate change and extreme weather events

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Central Asia faces serious water challenges. In the region, water resources are unevenly distributed and used for different purposes, such as hydropower generation and agricultural irrigation. The scarcity of water resources, unsustainable water use, and mismanaged transboundary water distribution are major sources of potential tensions in Central Asia. The situation can be exacerbated by global climate change.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.5 is set as: ‘By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate.’ In line with this target, we need an integrated approach to understand both the status quo and forward-looking climate-risk-informed water availability, water use and demand, and management options, ultimately supporting efficient and effective transboundary water management in Central Asia.

In this Special Issue, we aim to bring together the scientific community from different disciplines, improving the state-of-the-art understanding of “Transboundary Integrated Water Management in Central Asia”. We seek contributions on the following topics, but not exclusively:

  • Review of water-related datasets/models/tools/policy in the region;
  • Improving data availability and exchange;
  • Modeling applications on water availability, water use, and allocation;
  • Scenario analysis on transboundary water management;
  • Climate change impact on water resources;
  • Water–food–energy–ecology nexus in Central Asia.

Prof. Dr. Markus Disse
Dr. Jingshui Huang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • monitoring
  • integrated modelling
  • data sharing
  • water availability
  • water demand
  • water allocation
  • water policy
  • climate change
  • water–food–energy–ecology nexus
  • stakeholder engagement

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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37 pages, 3110 KiB  
Article
Integrating Open-Source Datasets to Analyze the Transboundary Water–Food–Energy–Climate Nexus in Central Asia
by Jan De Keyser, Daniel S. Hayes, Beatrice Marti, Tobias Siegfried, Carina Seliger, Hannah Schwedhelm, Oyture Anarbekov, Zafar Gafurov, Raquel M. López Fernández, Ivan Ramos Diez, Bertalan Alapfy, Justine Carey, Bakhtiyor Karimov, Erkin Karimov, Beatrice Wagner and Helmut Habersack
Water 2023, 15(19), 3482; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15193482 - 3 Oct 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2569
Abstract
In today’s intrinsically connected world, the Water–Food–Energy–Climate Nexus (WFEC Nexus) concept provides a starting point for informed and transparent decision-making based on the trade-offs and synergies between different sectors, including aquatic ecosystems, food security, energy production, and climate neutrality. The WFEC Nexus approach [...] Read more.
In today’s intrinsically connected world, the Water–Food–Energy–Climate Nexus (WFEC Nexus) concept provides a starting point for informed and transparent decision-making based on the trade-offs and synergies between different sectors, including aquatic ecosystems, food security, energy production, and climate neutrality. The WFEC Nexus approach is particularly applicable in regions requiring transboundary water management, such as Central Asia. Unfortunately, this region with unevenly distributed water resources—consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—is characterized by data scarcity, which limits informed decision-making. However, open-source geodata is becoming increasingly available. This paper aims to fill Central Asia’s WFEC Nexus data gap by providing an overview of key data. We collected geodata through an integrated survey of stakeholders and researchers, stakeholder consultation, and literature screening. Sixty unique datasets were identified, belonging to one of six thematic categories: (1) climate, (2) hydrology, (3) geography and topography, (4) geomorphology, (5) ecology, and (6) anthropogenic uses. For each dataset, a succinct description, including a link to the online source, is provided. We also provide possible applications of using the presented datasets, demonstrating how they can assist in conducting various studies linked to the WFEC Nexus in Central Asia and worldwide. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Management in Central Asia)
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13 pages, 5764 KiB  
Article
Occurrence of Radionuclides and Hazardous Elements in the Transboundary River Basin Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan
by Mariya A. Severinenko, Vladimir P. Solodukhin, Bekmamat M. Djenbaev, Svetlana G. Lennik, Baktiyar T. Zholboldiev and Daniel D. Snow
Water 2023, 15(9), 1759; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15091759 - 3 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1333
Abstract
Important for irrigation, the transboundary river basin between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan is vulnerable to geochemical and anthropogenic sources of pollution. The use of water use indices, together with measurements of the elemental and radionuclide composition of the water and bottom sediments, provides a [...] Read more.
Important for irrigation, the transboundary river basin between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan is vulnerable to geochemical and anthropogenic sources of pollution. The use of water use indices, together with measurements of the elemental and radionuclide composition of the water and bottom sediments, provides a means for evaluating the continued use of the water from this region. Recent monitoring shows the highest concentrations of hazardous contaminants include lead and thorium contained in the bottom and banks of the Kichi-Kemin River. These contaminants are likely remnants of an accidental spill at the Aktyuz tailing dump in 1964. The specific activity of the Th-232 of the bottom and banks of the Kichi-Kemin River is 107–189 Bq/kg. There is evidence of anthropogenic sources of additional pollution from uranium in both the bottom sediments and the water in the Oyrandy River. The geochemical origins of uranium and other associated elements in the water of the Shu River are likely the Kamyshanovskoye deposit. Contact between the riverbed and ore bodies in this region likely leads to elevated concentrations of several geogenic contaminants, including lithium, strontium, uranium, and boron (Li, Sr, U, B), increasing by as much as 60–130%. The uranium concentrations in the water of channels that are used for irrigation exceed the maximum allowable contaminant levels by 3.8 times. Future work is needed to evaluate the ecological and human health impacts of these contaminants in irrigation and drinking water. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Management in Central Asia)
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Review

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16 pages, 2511 KiB  
Review
Consideration of the Environment in Water-Energy-Food Nexus Research in the Aral Sea Basin
by Mohammad Assem Mayar, Ahmad Hamidov, Akmal Akramkhanov and Katharina Helming
Water 2024, 16(5), 658; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16050658 - 23 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1396
Abstract
The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a holistic concept used to understand the synergies and trade-offs of interdependent water, energy, and food resources. Despite its widespread use, this concept often overlooks environmental concerns. In addition, the lack of a systemic approach in the Aral [...] Read more.
The water-energy-food (WEF) nexus is a holistic concept used to understand the synergies and trade-offs of interdependent water, energy, and food resources. Despite its widespread use, this concept often overlooks environmental concerns. In addition, the lack of a systemic approach in the Aral Sea Basin (ASB) has resulted in serious environmental degradation. For instance, the Aral Sea, situated at the terminus of the basin, is steadily shrinking, yet researchers studying the WEF nexus tend to overlook the upstream tributaries of the basin. This study aims to determine the extent to which research on the WEF nexus in the ASB in Central Asia has considered the environment through a systematic review of the literature published between 2012 and 2022. The results indicate that the number of WEF publications regarding the ASB has seen an upward trend, with a primary focus on the transboundary level and less research available on the local and national levels. This confirms the strong reliance of Central Asian states on one another for food, energy, and water resources. Furthermore, the results show that the majority of published studies either do not consider environmental concerns in their analyses at all or do so with little precision. Therefore, to achieve precise and sustainable outcomes, this study recommends the inclusion of environmental concerns along with basin-wide coverage in future WEF analyses. Finally, the WEF concept should be downscaled to the national and local levels in order to facilitate its implementation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Management in Central Asia)
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