The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $125 million loan to support the government of Uzbekistan in efforts to modernize water management sector, improve water security and increase access to safe and reliable water supply in the country, press service of the bankannounced.
The Climate-Smart Water Management Improvement Project will improve asset management and sustainability of service delivery, and strengthen institutional capacity of the national water utility staff. It will also lead to better decision-making and enhance water management and energy use efficiency, thereby contributing to the climate change mitigation.
“Uzbekistan's water resources are under acute threat from climate change and inefficient usage,” ADB country director for Uzbekistan Kanokpan Lao-Araya said. “ADB project introduces smart water management systems to improve water usage, reduce energy consumption and increase operational efficiency to lower a carbon footprint of Uzbekistan”.
The ADB project will support Uzsuvtaminot (the national water utility) and its regional branches to complete the installation of an ongoing nationwide bulk flow metering and telemetry system on the main water resource’s locations. The project will also carry out an asset inventory and prepare on-site geographic mapping for all existing Uzsuvtaminot water supply and wastewater infrastructure, including about 4 million customer connections.
The зroject will promote transformative digital solutions and technologies to decrease operational expenditure, increase workforce efficiencies and enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the partnership between ADB and Uzbekistan. Since Uzbekistan joined ADB in 1995, the bank committed public sector loans, grants and technical assistance totaling $14.3 billion to the country.
