The 1-day workshop took place in the regional office of the Syrdarya-Sokh Basin Irrigation System Administration in Fergana City (Uzbekistan) and was hosted by the project partners of the Scientific Information Centre of the Interstate Coordination Water Commission of Central Asia (branch Uzbekistan in Tashkent) in cooperation with the Centre for international Development and Environmental Research (ZEU) of the Justus Liebig-University in Giessen (Germany).

The aim of the workshop was to communicate the intentions, perceptions and practical applications developed within the working packages 2 and 3 of the CAWa project. In total, 29 specialists attended the workshop, amongst them administrative staff of local Water User Associations, local operators of the water distribution authorities (Hokimiat) and members of the water planning authorities (BISA, ISA) at the provincial level of the three Uzbek provinces of Fergana Valley (Andijan, Namangan, Fergana).

The presentations by Gozhenkno, Ukhalin and Solodkiy from SIC ICWC focused on climate change and the socio-economic impacts for the Fergana Valley as abstracted of future projections for agricultural trade and land use. Three different scenarios of possible trends for market development were investigated and evaluated. The water availability and the water use as projected for investigated future climate trends and its characteristics were subject of the reports and discussion.

A number of practical tools were presented which can be used in day-to-day operations by water planers to improve irrigation efficiencies:

Stulina presented a revised version of the hydro-physiological classification of irrigation regimes for the Fergana Valley (Hydromodule zones) specifically adapted to the soil and groundwater conditions of a location,

Dernedde introduced the SPARE:WATER model, developed to facilitate site-specific irrigation requirement estimations,

Dernedde introduces the “Water Footprint” as a measure of the water productivity for agricultural products.

As a central theme, potential adaptation strategies have been discussed by all speakers. Information was given about the calculation of the water requirement for future climate projections calculated with the ReqWat algorithm, developed by the working group of SIC ICWC. The final talk, given by soil physics expert Dr. Galina Stulina (SIC ICWC), informed about adaptation strategies to observed climate change patterns, that indicate a water saving potential through shifting the sowing and harvest dates according to increased seasonal temperatures in the future.

The participants showed a lot of interest for the future expectations drawn by the scientists and were interested in the practical applications demonstrated. Critical questions were raised and discussed towards the difficult estimation of water productivity of irrigation practice and the practical implications of climate change projections for agricultural planning and production. A continuative procedure of trainings and workshop is appreciated by the participants and the presenting scientists likewise.

All presentations are available through the eLearning platform of the CAWa project.