Mountainous regions in Central Asia are vulnerable to consequences of climate change. Taking appropriate decisions for allocation of water over communities, the environment and key economic sectors such as agriculture and energy, is increasingly challenging due to economic and population growth as well as climate-induced changes in hydrological regimes in Central Asia’s main transboundary river basins. WE-ACT proposes to establish a climate sensitive Decision Support System for water allocation in two sub-catchments of a transboundary river basin in Central Asia, namely the Naryn and Kara Darya catchments of the Syr Darya river basin (covering parts of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan). Based on an innovative water information system that captures a thorough understanding of water availability, demand, footprint and allocation in a glacier-fed river basin, WE-ACT will enable water managers to interact with an accessible and intuitive DSS to alleviate water stress for communities, the economy and the environment on the short- and long-term. WE-ACT will enable them to adapt the allocation of water resources to the known and expected effects of climate change, while encouraging the improvement of policies to correctly set water tariffs, reduce water footprints and increase water use efficiency in agriculture and energy sectors. The backbone of the project is a reliable data supply chain based on real-time monitoring, integrated water demand-, availability- and use modelling approach, machine-learning, and data storage in a transboundary context. This will be matched with an in-depth understanding of water policies and priorities that face increasing pressures of climate change, growing demand and water dependency. End-users of the project (hydrometeorological stations, integrated models, DSS for water allocation) will be carefully mapped, invited, involved and trained to establish and use meaningful results from the outset of the project.

Global trends in population growth and rising economic prosperity will increase the demand for energy, food and water, with more severe impact in fast-growing economies, such as in several African countries. The constraints on water, energy, and food could well hamper economic development, lead to social and geopolitical tensions, and cause lasting environmental damage. DAFNE advocates an integrated and adaptive water resources planning and management approach that explicitly addresses the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus from a novel participatory and multidisciplinary perspective. This includes social, economic, and ecologic dimensions, involves both public and private actors and is socially inclusive, enhances resource efficiency and prevents the loss of ecosystem services in regions where large infrastructures exist or are being built and intensive agriculture is expanding. A decision-analytic-framework (DAF) will be developed to quantitatively assess the social, economic, and environmental impact of expanding energy and food production in complex physical and political contexts, where natural and social processes are strongly interconnected and the institutional setting involves multiple stakeholders and decision-makers. The DAFNE approach will be demonstrated by analysing two cross-boundary case studies, the Zambezi and the Omo river basins. The WEF nexus will be quantified and analysed as the trade-off between conflicting objectives such as hydropower production vs irrigation, land exploitation vs conservation, etc. The nexus will be translated in economic values and impact on growth, ecosystems and ecosystem services. DAFNE will allow a better understanding of the WEF nexus, and generate and explore alternative planning and management solutions based on the cooperation of public and private stakeholders, which foster the profitable but equitable use of resources without transgressing environmental limits or creating societal and/or stakeholder conflicts.

Despite considerable potential to satisfy unmet electricity demand and chart a new way forward in cooperative cross-sectoral management of shared waters, small scale hydropower (SHP) is not extensively exploited in Central Asia (CA). Likewise, vast potential to roll out European SHP approaches in other regions, European technologies have not been widely used due mostly to the lack of adaptation to such contexts; successful test cases are scant as their price point is typically far higher than Asian-manufactured competitors. The Hydro4U project will adapt European technologies to CA, demonstrating viability in a forward-looking cross-border Water/Food/Energy/Climate nexus (WP2) and price-competitiveness through design alterations (WP3) based on a prior analysis of unexploited SHP potential in CA (WP1). Hydro4U will install and assess (WP4) 2 demo plants: 500kW low-head eco-friendly run-of-river plant in KA, 2MW medium-head plant in UZ, both with radically reduced planning and construction costs that do not compromise efficiency. These solutions will be fit-for-purpose based on innovation, modularization, standardisation and radically simplified structural concepts, with longevity, eco-compatibility and socio-political acceptance (WP3). A replication model will be developed to address all SHP potential (WP5). This will demonstrate EU quality standards and create entry points in developing markets for the entire European SHP industry (WP6). Hydro4U brings together a multidisciplinary team (13 partners, 8 countries (DE, AT, CH, LK, ES, BE, CA: UZ, KG, [subsidiary in KZ]) world-renown experts in design of European SHP from industry (GHE, MUHR, HSOL, ILF) to science (TUM, BOKU, KSTU, EV-INBO, SJE, CARTIF), replication (SEZ, CARTIF), exploitation and D&C experts (SEZ), ‘boots-on-the-ground’ R4D institutes (IWMI, TIIAME) with a legacy of achieving practical impact in the water sector in CA, contributing experience from similar projects in CA and worldwide.