Farmers in Qostanay Region Face Water Shortages After Embankment Washout

In the Qostanay region, farmers have been left without irrigation water following the washout of an embankment during the 2024 flood, Orda.kz reports. Their fields lie in the Tobol River floodplain between the Amangeldy hydroelectric dam and a nearby bridge.

Since the incident, the river level has dropped sharply, leaving both farmers and summer residents struggling with shallow water.

Vegetable growers gathered under the bridge near Qostanay, where a backwater once provided water for irrigation. The spring flood destroyed it, allowing water to flow freely downstream and leaving the oxbow lakes dry.

This year, we've had practically nothing to irrigate with. Where the water used to be three to four meters deep, it's now knee-deep. Even when the discharge increased in the summer, it only lasted a couple of days,
 said Yerbol Yesenbolov, assistant to the head of a local farm.

The water level has dropped dramatically, and we've had to relocate pumping stations and extend pipes. We usually harvest about 100 tons of potatoes from 21 hectares, but without irrigation next year, we’ll lose everything,
 explained Dmitry Semeykin of Terra farm.

This year, we extended the pipes by 11 meters, but now the pump can’t cope. The water intake is only 30 cm deep, and the pump is overheating,
said Nikolai Serbin, head of the Dorozhnik cooperative.

The regional Department of Natural Resources clarified that no official dam had existed under the bridge.

Instead, an old asphalt road washed away during the 2024 flood, acting as an unintended backwater.

The issue of restoring this backwater is being considered. Either the embankment needs to be restored, or farmers will have to pump water directly from the main river channel,
said deputy head Viktor Mukhamedzhanov.

Farmers say they cannot afford additional costs, while summer residents already face water shortages.

Even if the backwater is restored, approvals and design work could take years.

Original Author: Ninel Zabludina