ГИС-технологии помогут оценить доступность воды на пастбищах Кыргызстана

GIS Technologies to Help Assess Water Availability on Kyrgyz Pastures

CAMP Alatoo specialists are investigating the issue of water access on pastures. This work is being conducted under the framework of the "Resilience of Regional Pasture Communities – ADAPT" project. The initiative is implemented with the support of the Agricultural Projects Implementation Unit (APIU) of the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic, and is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Experts emphasize the urgency of the issue, noting that the last comprehensive studies on pasture water supply were conducted more than 50 years ago. The infrastructure established during the Soviet era — wells and boreholes that provided water to a significant portion of the country's pastures — is now obsolete and largely derelict. Climate change is adding fuel to the fire: global warming is altering the course of small rivers and drying up mountain springs.

Furthermore, the rugged mountainous terrain and steep slopes prevent livestock from traveling long distances to watering holes. According to expert estimates, the optimal and safe distance to water in these regions is limited to just 1–2.5 kilometers. Long treks exhaust the animals; studies show that increasing the distance to water from 1 km to 7 km reduces the weight gain of young cattle by 30–40%. Meanwhile, the agencies responsible for resource management lack modern maps and data on the actual state of small rivers and springs.

During the first phase of the study, experts developed a unique digital analysis methodology and conducted detailed training for GIS specialists. The team has already digitized the 1971 pasture water supply map, which will serve as a baseline for comparing and analyzing changes between historical and current water availability. They have also begun collecting modern spatial data.