Bart Schultz
The workshops are held in one of the member countries. The workshop in 2024 was the fourteenth in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, organized by the Tajikistan National ICID Committee. Approximately 200 people from 20 countries participated in the workshop.
In the Netherlands we generally understand drainage to refer only to drainage through ditches, underground drains in agricultural fields, or underground drains in industrial areas, roads, and urban areas. In English, the term has a broader meaning and generally refers to the entire water drainage and discharge chain.
In 1990, as the then chair of the ICID Working Group on Drainage, I was closely involved in organizing the fourth workshop in Cairo, Egypt. Communication back then was still by fax. I wasn't entirely sure if everything would be arranged properly and travelled to Cairo a day early to make any final arrangements. However, the Egyptian organizers had everything perfectly arranged. I then went to see the Great Pyramid of Giza, which I found very impressive.
The trip to the fourteenth workshop was also something special. The best option turned out to be to fly to Dushanbe via Istanbul and Tashkent. All in all, a trip that took almost a full day. Anyway, the connections went smoothly, and I, along with several other international participants, arrived in Dushanbe according to the flight schedule. We were politely met and taken to our hotels. The drive through Dushanbe to the hotel surprised me greatly. I didn't really have a clear picture of the city, but I had no high expectations. With over a million inhabitants, the city was first of all much larger than I had expected, but what I saw also looked spacious and well-maintained. In short, I got a good impression.
During the workshop, several articles on irrigation and drainage projects and schemes were presented. Polders played a role in a limited number of them. In Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan - – the main problems are water shortages and the drainage of saline soils, particularly in irrigated areas. Several articles from Central Asia, Egypt, and Iran addressed these issues.
There was also a small exhibition where various companies presented their irrigation and drainage products. I saw a unique drainage machine there, manufactured in Iran. I've seen many drainage machines in my life, but this was something new. The machine looked very efficient and well-designed.
During the presentations, some remarkable data were presented. For example, despite water shortages, Central Asian countries are very careless in their water management, resulting in significant wasting of water in irrigation. This, in turn, leads to the development of saline soils if proper drainage is not implemented. Many areas were operating with outdated systems dating back to the Soviet era.
The construction of a massive canal in Afghanistan, intended to divert water from the Amu Darya River for irrigation, was also shown. If everything the Afghans are currently working on will be realized, Central Asian countries will have approximately 25% less water in the coming years, which is expected to lead to major problems. There appeared to be no consultation on this matter between the countries involved.
After two days of presentations and discussions, there was a field trip to the ESKI-Guzar irrigation system and the Norak Dam. Both the irrigation system and the dam were built in the Soviet era in the 1960s. The irrigation system required pumping of water in four stages, which must have been very expensive. After independence, the upper two stages fell into disrepair, and now only the lower two stages are used by farmers.
At 300 metres high, the Norak Dam is the tallest dam of its kind in the world. There is a slightly taller dam in China, but it is made of concrete. It was an impressive visit, not only because of the dam itself, but also because of the large number of dams in Tajikistan, which primarily generate electricity but also supply water to large irrigation areas. Tajikistan thus plays a significant role in water management in the Central Asian Region.
In short, several interesting issues were presented that, unfortunately, won't improve things in the future. I will continue to follow developments with interest.
