FAO and Kazakhstan Discuss Sustainable Water Management

On March 6, 2025, a round table was held in Astana to discuss the priorities of the partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Kazakhstan in sustainable water management.

Experts concluded that the country needs urgent reforms amid the growing water deficit, Orda.kz reports.

According to FAO, the load on Kazakhstan's water resources reached 34.6% in 2022.

This means that the country is experiencing a water deficit. The main problems are inefficient water use, high losses in the irrigation system, and dependence on transboundary rivers.

The use of groundwater in Kazakhstan is a promising development option that we could pay attention to right now. However, groundwater resources are unevenly distributed and their quality is uneven, which limits economic use,  noted FAO representative Viorel Gutu.

Among the solutions proposed at the meeting is creating an automated system for recording and monitoring water resources in the Aral Sea basin.

This will make water use transparent and strengthen trust between the Central Asian countries.

We believe that it is important to develop a work plan for the implementation of a unified automated monitoring system. This will improve the efficiency of water resource management and create conditions for the fair distribution of water, said Vice Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan Nurzhan Aldamzharov.

Another priority is to reduce food losses and waste. The roundtable participants are confident that this will help reduce the burden on limited water resources and greenhouse gas emissions.

UN experts and Kazakh officials agreed that the country urgently needs to reform its water use system, otherwise the country will face a large-scale water crisis.

We are convinced that only through cooperation can we ensure water, energy and food security in the region,  summed up Nurzhan Aldamzharov.

Original Author: Olga Ibraeva