Regional Research Network “Water in Central Asia” (CAWa)
CAWa - Tools Supporting Water Management in Central Asia
Central Asia, comprising Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, is characterized by a highly continental semi-arid climate. Climate change and variability have substantial impact on water availability and thus present a major challenge for sustainable agricultural development and energy production. The project „Central Asian Water“ (CAWa) was part of the German Water Initiative for Central Asia (“Berlin Process”) which was launched by the German Federal Foreign Office in 2008 at the “Water Unites” conference in Berlin. In 2020 a follow-up program "Green Central Asia" was launched in the frame of which the CAWa-Green project is being implemented. Since then, CAWa-Green scientists in close cooperation with Central Asian partner organizations, have developed several tools, all aiming at the improvement of transboundary water management. The tools cover a broad range of water related applications, such as hydro-meteorological observations in high mountain regions, radar altimetry based monitoring of reservoir levels, remote sensing based estimation of land use, irrigation, potential yield and snow cover and user-friendly algorithms for seasonal precipitation and runoff forecasts. It is our policy to make all data and methods freely accessible, some are already used by Central Asian partners and stakeholders and have been found to support decision making at the regional level.
