Land Reclamation Reform in Action: How Water User Organizations Are Being Created and Outdated Systems Modernized in Ukraine
Ukraine has more than 2.2 million hectares of irrigated land and 3.3 million hectares of drained land — the largest land reclamation network in Europe. Until 2021, despite systems being 85% worn out, 525 thousand hectares were under irrigation. After the destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir, irrigated areas decreased to 130 thousand hectares.
In 2022, Ukraine launched a hydraulic land reclamation reform. The key change was the transfer of management of reclamation networks from the state and territorial communities to Water User Organizations (WUOs). This opened opportunities for attracting private investment, grants, and loans for the restoration of reclamation infrastructure.
On May 28, the IV Land Reclamation Forum took place in the Poltava region, organized by the Association of Water User Organizations at the facilities of Rost Agro LLC (WUO «Dzherelo 1»). The event brought together government representatives, agricultural producers, and equipment suppliers to discuss the current state and further development of the land reclamation reform, identify priority areas of work, and address problematic issues.
According to Oleksandr Haidu, Member of Parliament of Ukraine and Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, one of the key decisions in the field of land reclamation was the adoption of the law on Water User Organizations and stimulation of hydraulic land reclamation.
«It was the agrarian committee of the Verkhovna Rada that became the main platform for preparing and finalizing this law. Thanks to it, farmers gained the opportunity to create WUOs, receive ownership of reclamation system facilities free of charge, and jointly modernize irrigation infrastructure. In addition, the issue of tax exemption for the transfer of reclamation systems from the balance sheets of the State Water Agency and the State Fisheries Agency to WUOs allowed the reform to move forward. The next important stage will be the adoption of the law of Ukraine on improving management systems for engineering infrastructure facilities of state-owned reclamation systems. This law is going through a rather difficult discussion process, but it is expected to enter into force on June 21, 2026, and I hope this will allow the reform to move even further,» Oleksandr Haidu noted.
In cooperation with farmers, профильные authorities, the U.S. government through the AGRO Program, and the World Bank, Ukraine managed to form a modern model of reclamation management in which farmers can directly make management decisions through representation on supervisory boards. This approach ensures transparency and accountability of operators, focuses on farmers’ needs, enables long-term planning for organizations, and creates clear operating rules for investors and water users.
Currently, 78 WUOs have already been established in Ukraine, 39 WUOs have entered information on reclamation networks into the State Land Cadastre, and 14 have already received reclamation networks into ownership.
Executive Director of the Association of Water User Organizations Dmytro Kokhan noted that more than 50% of the total 132 thousand hectares of irrigated land in Ukraine last year were provided specifically by WUOs. Thanks to support from the U.S. government through the AGRO Program, 18 WUOs expanded irrigation areas by 6 thousand hectares. Among them is WUO «Dzherelo 1» in the Poltava region, which modernized reclamation networks by introducing American 360 RAIN unmanned machines and a solar power plant into its production system. As a result, irrigated areas doubled, while resource use decreased by 50–75%.
The Association of Water User Organizations conducted a survey among the 78 established WUOs. Over the next four years, they plan to invest about $50 million of their own funds in upgrading their irrigation capacities — mainly through the purchase of American sprinkler equipment.
Photo source: Association of Water User Organizations
