Lessons on cooperation building to manage water conflicts in the Aral Sea Basin; Technical documents in hydrology: pc-cp series; Vol.: 11; 2003

2.5.2. Implementation of SCADA System for BWO Structures 
The lack of renovation and modernization of structures operated by BWOs over the 
last ten years has created a major problem for improving of the accuracy of water 
delivery to each state and each irrigation system. The SIC ICWC, BWOs “Syr-Darya” 
and “Amu-Darya,” with assistance from the CIDA, prepared a feasibility study entitled 
“Water Resources Management and Control Systems for the Amu-Darya and Syr-
Darya Basins.” In the future the proposed system will help to provide the region’s 
countries with water in accordance with quotas established by ICWC, and to develop 
plans for water reservoirs and water intake operation, developing systems of 
management, communication, and information. 
For these objectives to be realized it is necessary to equip the BWOs with 
updated means to control and manage water systems, communications, and 
information transfer. As a first stage of the Dustlik canal project, headwork 
automatization was performed using the SCADA system, which provides automatic 
regulation of water level and discharge in water systems. 
The system has been in operation since the beginning of 1999 and enabled 
annual savings of 95 million m
3
of water. With finance provided to IFAS by local 
governments, a similar pilot scheme was installed in 1999 on the headwork of the 
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South Golodnosteppe canal at the base of a former Soviet “Sigma” system. The cost 
of this equipment was five times less than that installed by the “Modicon” company in 
the Dustlik canal. Similar projects are now being supported by USAID (the Pakhtaabad 
canal and structures on the Chirchik river) and SDC (Uchkurgan structure on the 
Naryn river). To complete this project the required cost is close to US$15 million, to 
be financed from a range of sources, including investment from IFAS.