In the context of the growing shortage of water resources, it is of а great importance to increase the efficiency of water use by saving water and reducing its waste, and at the same time, Uzbekistan can benefit from the experience of the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), which have accumulated significant experience in this area,.

I. According to the comparative analysis of available water resources and efficiency indicators of Uzbekistan and the GCC countries,

- The economic efficiency of water use in Uzbekistan (economic value created from one cubic meter of water[1]) is very low ($2.6/m³), which is very little compared to the the GCC countries (UAE - $89.6/m³, Qatar - $191.7/m³, Saudi Arabia - $28/m³);

- The volume of renewable water resources per capita in Uzbekistan is significantly higher than in the GCC (in Uzbekistan - 1400 m³/year[2], in the GCC - <100 m³/year), but Uzbekistan is also under water stress[3] and receives more than 80% of its resources from external (transboundary) sources[4]. And GCC relies mainly on the desalination of seawater and groundwater;

- In Uzbekistan, most of the water (~87%)[5] is used for agriculture (irrigation). The main consumption in the GCC is attributed to municipal utility needs and industry[6];

- The biggest problem in Uzbekistan is the low efficiency of irrigation systems (efficiency factor ~0.63)[7] and huge losses in them. And the main challenge at the GCC countries is the high energy consumption of desalination process and the extremely high level of water consumption by the population[8]. At the same time, the GCC countries have made significant progress in reducing losses (NRW) in urban networks[9].

The use of treated wastewater (~1.8 billion m³/year)[10] has become an important trend in freshwater conservation in GCC states. In Uzbekistan, there is mainly the reuse of collector-water furrow waters (~1.6 billion m³/year)[11], and the practice of cleaning and large-scale reuse of municipal wastewater has not yet developed.

Economic efficiency of water use
(Economic value created per 1 m³)

II. Analysis of the scale of water losses in Uzbekistan shows that up to 40% of water is lost due to filtration (absorption)[12], evaporation, and other technical reasons in obsolete and in a large part earthen-bottom irrigation networks of Uzbekistan (efficiency factor - 0.63), which (taking into account that in average 40-41 billion m³ of water is taken for irrigation per year) means a waste of about 15-16 billion m³ of water per year[13]. To this can be also added approximately 2 billion m³ of water lost due to evaporation (evaporation ~10%)[14] from the surface of retaining reservoirs (containing more than 22 billion m³, according to FAO data)[15].

In Uzbekistan, the volume of water lost in irrigation systems alone (15-16 billion m³) is almost equal to the volume of water consumed annually by the entire agricultural sector of Saudi Arabia (~21.2 billion m³)! Meanwhile, the population of the two countries is almost the same (~37 million people)[16], but the economic potential of Saudi Arabia (real GDP) is almost 12 times higher than that of Uzbekistan[17].

III. The experience of the GCC countries shows that the effectiveness of water use can be significantly increased through the targeted use of digital technologies, the transition to data-based management, and the joint implementation of institutional reforms, in particular:

3.1. Creation of real economic incentive mechanisms for water conservation in agriculture, with the phased widespread introduction of affordable and reliable digital devices (such as "smartsticks"[18]) that measure water consumption by volume at water intake points, establishing a system for automatic transmission of data from these devices to a single electronic platform, testing a mechanism for linking payments for water delivery services to the volume of water, providing additional incentives not for the installation of the technology, but for its use and achievement of accurate results (reduction of water loss by 25-35%, with the possibility of saving up to 3-5 billion m³ of water per year)[19].

For reference: In Uzbekistan, farmers are aware about the water-saving technologies, but usually do not use them due to the lack of accurate calculations and financial interest. Accurate measurement of consumption through smart meters plays an important role in demand management in the GCC countries (especially in cities). Although water is mainly subsidized by the state, knowing the volume of consumption and feeling its price encourages saving. Also, initiatives such as Qatar's "Tarshid" program have yielded significant results by informing and encouraging consumers on the basis of digital data[20].

3.2. Implementation of economically justified standard projects for the use of treated wastewater for technical purposes (industrial, suburban green belts, green zones, possibly industrial crops) around large cities and industrial zones (the possibility of saving more than 1 billion m³ of fresh water per year)[21].

For reference: GCC's experience, in particular the UAE's practice of reusing nearly 100%, demonstrates the enormous potential of wastewater treatment in freshwater conservation[22].

3.3. Accelerating the widespread introduction of modern water-saving irrigation methods (drop and sprinkler irrigation) in agriculture and their integrated application in conjunction with advanced agrotechnical measures (including mulching and optimization of irrigation regimes) (reduces water consumption to 5-7 billion m³ per year in the long term)[23].

For information: GCC countries (especially Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman), widely applying this practice as a standard one, have made significant investments in the improvement and automation of these technologies (for example, IoT sensors, mobile control). These technologies can reduce water consumption from 50% to 70%.

Many international studies (including those conducted in countries with a climate closer to Uzbekistan, such as Iran) confirm that drip irrigation increases irrigation efficiency by 80-90%, and sprinkler irrigation by 60-75%. It has been scientifically substantiated that mulching reduces evaporation by 30-50%, and optimal deficit irrigation reduces water consumption by 10-20% without significantly reducing yields[24].

3.4. Implementation of work aimed to improvement the physical condition of main and inter-farm canals (phased concreting/transfer to pipes) based on the results of digital diagnostics in order to reduce large-scale water losses in irrigation systems, as well as integrated improvement of water management and distribution through modern digital systems (SCADA, sensors, GIS-based tools, remote sensing) (reduces losses by 20-30%, up to 3-5 billion m³ per year, optimizes repair costs)[25].

For information: Water distribution in Uzbekistan is often based on manual labor and outdated methods, which reduces accuracy and efficiency. SCADA systems are used in the GCC to manage any important canal or pipeline systems, Saudi Arabia and the UAE use GIS and remote sensing data in infrastructure management, and Oman's experience in detecting pipeline losses through drones and satellites demonstrates the capabilities of the technology.

3.5. Creation of a "National Water Data Platform" to ensure informed decision-making in water resource management.

For reference: GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar) actively use data not just for collection, but for consolidation on centralized platforms (for example, the UAE FCSC portal, Qatar IWIS) and demand forecasting network optimization, resource allocation through advanced analysis, AI/ML tools.