Across the rapidly changing landscapes of the Syr Darya basin, where glacier retreat accelerates and seasonal flows grow increasingly unpredictable, the WE-ACT Cooperation Week brought together the region’s leading institutions for a week of intensive, technically rigorous collaboration.
Experts from the University of Twente, Portolan Association, Technical University of Munich, FutureWater, HAEDES, IWMI Central Asia, and CAIAG united with national ministries, basin administrations, and NGOs to strengthen climate‑resilient, evidence‑driven water governance.
This was a decisive move, away from fragmented practices, toward a unified, scientifically grounded approach to managing one of Central Asia’s most strategic river systems.
BISHKEK: UNIVERSITY OF TWENTE GROUNDS THE WEEK IN SOCIETAL WATER VALUES
The Cooperation Week opened with a high‑level Water Value Measurement Workshop led by the University of Twente (UT), a global authority in socio‑hydrology and participatory water governance.
Representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic, the National Academy of Sciences, basin agencies, and NGOs explored how water creates economic, ecological, cultural, and social value within the Karadarya sub‑basin. UT facilitated structured mapping exercises revealing where agricultural production, hydropower operations, municipal consumption, ecological habitats, and cultural uses overlap—or directly compete. Crucially, UT’s team guided institutions in converting these insights into operational indicators.
OSH: CAIAG & IWMI OPEN THE TECHNICAL TRAINING WEEK
In Osh, CAIAG and IWMI officially launched the technical programme with a strategic overview of WE-ACT’s progress and the urgent basin‑level challenges ahead. Their framing underscored the need for coordinated climate‑impact assessments, interoperable monitoring networks, and transparent allocation modelling across administrative boundaries.
FROM SENSORS TO DATA — MASTERING AUTOMATED HYDROLOGICAL MONITORING
Portolan delivered a hands‑on masterclass on the operation, calibration, and maintenance of WE-ACT’s automated hydrometeorological stations. Installed across ten locations—including Ak‑Talaa, Son‑Köl, Kökomeren, Sary‑Tash, Uch‑Tepa, and others—the network forms the backbone of WE-ACT’s climate‑resilient monitoring strategy.
Portolan team demonstrated the internal architecture of these stations. Participants learned how to turn on the station’s Wi-Fi, connect to it, download the station’s settings, check whether the sensors were giving correct readings, and verify that the power system was working properly through the monitoring tool. One of the most important parts of the training was maintenance: Portolan showed how to safely open and clean collected sediment, how to avoid damaging the thin air-pressure lines inside them, and how to reset the sensors afterwards. These practical skills are essential for keeping the stations accurate and reliable in the region’s challenging mountain conditions.
The Technical University of Munich (TUM) led the hydrological modelling programme, offering participants a deep, practical immersion into SWAT+ and its glacier‑enhanced module, SWAT‑GL.
TUM researchers guided institutions step‑by‑step through building a complete SWAT+ model of the Yassy River, configuring glacier‑melt dynamics, analysing water‑balance components, and executing simulations under projected climate conditions.
Participants learned how to prepare future climate datasets, configure simulation periods, run the SWAT+ engine directly, and analyse climate‑driven hydrological changes through basin‑level water‑balance summaries.
The sessions revealed with scientific clarity how climate change is reshaping the basin: earlier melt peaks, reduced late‑summer flow stability, altered groundwater recharge, and heightened drought exposure. By giving institutions the tools to run independent climate‑impact analyses, TUM effectively democratized hydrological foresight.
ALLOCATION MODELLING WITH WEAP
FutureWater expanded the analytical landscape by training participants in WEAP—the basin’s water‑allocation engine. Through co‑developed model setups linked to SWAT+ outputs, participants explored how irrigation demands, hydropower production, reservoir operations, environmental flows, and climate evolution interact across decades.
FutureWater demonstrated how minor hydrological variations propagate into major cross‑sector tradeoffs when projected to mid‑century and beyond, an insight critical for long‑term drought preparedness and conflict prevention.
THE MIRAX DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM — WHERE EVERYTHING CONVERGES
The final technological pillar came from HAEDES, which guided institutions through the miraX Decision Support System.
Participants accessed scenario dashboards combining:
• real‑time monitoring,
• SWAT+ hydrological outputs,
• WEAP sectoral allocation simulations,
• socio‑economic development pathways
miraX allowed ministries and basin authorities to visualize climate futures, quantify tradeoffs, and compare alternative planning strategies, something that previously required fragmented tools, expert mediation, or was simply not possible.
A TURNING POINT FOR REGIONAL WATER SECURITY
The WE-ACT Cooperation Week concluded with a joint reflection led by CAIAG, IWMI, UT, TUM, FutureWater, HAEDES, and Portolan. Institutions affirmed their commitment to maintain the monitoring network, harmonize modelling approaches, and integrate societal values into long‑term allocation planning.
The significance of the week cannot be overstated, since it unified Central Asian institutions and WE-ACT partners to acquire:
• the ability to operate and calibrate advanced hydrological stations,
• the competence to run climate‑impact simulations independently,
• the analytical capacity to test allocation scenarios, and
• a shared decision‑support environment grounded in transparent, multi‑model data.
In a basin where every cubic metre is negotiated, this unified technical foundation marks a big shift: a move toward evidence‑based diplomacy, climate‑aware planning, and long‑term resilience.
As climate pressures intensify, WE-ACT has delivered what the region needs most: shared tools, shared knowledge, and shared confidence that science, not uncertainty, can shape the future of the Syr Darya basin.
