[Ulaanbaatar, March 22, 2022] – As part of the celebration of World Water Day, the Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, Water Agency, the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST), the Millennium Challenge Account – Mongolia, and other public and private sector and NGOs have co-organized the XVI student academic conference on “Water – the Source of Development” on March 22, 2022 at the conference hall of the Research and Innovation Center, the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. The academic conference is aimed to encourage the participation of university students in addressing water-related issues, to provide support for their research work, and to encourage their creative thinking.
U.S. Ambassador Klecheski congratulated to the organizers and participants of the conference and stated that “…The Mongolia Water Compact is among the largest single investments that the U.S. has made to the region’s, and will increase Ulaanbaatar’s water supply by 80 percent. Our confidence in the investment is all the more strengthened by seeing your efforts as experts, researchers and rising professionals committed to a sustainable future for water in Mongolia.”
In 2022, World Water Day is being celebrated under the theme “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible” as UN decided, and more than 20 research works and papers were submitted to the conference from six universities such as the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, National University of Mongolia, Mongolia National University of Medical Science, Mongolian National University of Life Science, National Technical University and Mongolian National University.
Among them, 10 research works, including such works as “Make Invisible Groundwater Visible”, “Groundwater Monitoring Survey”, “Possibility of Recycled for Greenhouse Irrigation” and “Health Risk Assessment of Groundwater Nitrate Pollution”, were selected and discussed at the conference.
MCA-Mongolia is implementing the $350 million Mongolia Water Compact signed between the Government of Mongolia and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), aiming to comprehensively address water-related issues and to provide sustainable bulk water supply solutions for Ulaanbaatar. The Compact will also make a great contribution to the protection and environmentally friendly use of groundwater resources through reducing industrial wastewater pollution, introducing recycled water use to the combined heating and power plants, which are Ulaanbaatar’s largest industrial consumers of groundwater, and promoting sustainable use of water.
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The Government of Mongolia and the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation signed the $350 million Mongolia Water Compact on July 27, 2018. The Compact is funding major infrastructure projects, including the construction of new wellfields and two large plants – an Advanced Water Purification Plant and Wastewater Recycling Plant which will be the first of their kind in Mongolia. In addition, the Compact will invest in policy measures to create a financially and environmentally sustainable future for the water sector of Ulaanbaatar. By 2026, the water system in Ulaanbaatar will have been expanded to deliver 80% more drinking water, allowing for the city’s future expansion.
