Kazakhstan to Receive 11 Billion Cubic Meters of Water from Neighboring Countries

Kazakhstan to receive 11 billion cubic meters of water from its neighbors

Water will start flowing through the Syr Darya River this April, Orda.kz reports.

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan are preparing for the upcoming irrigation season. During a meeting in Dushanbe, the heads of water management agencies discussed the distribution of water resources in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya river basins.

According to the agreements, 11 billion cubic meters of water will be directed to the Shardara reservoir in Kazakhstan’s Turkistan Region.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation assures that this amount will be sufficient for irrigation and maintaining ecosystems in the country’s southern regions.

The situation in the south is different from the west and north of the country. There is no flood water in such volumes and on such a scale, yet the water demand is extremely high in the summer. That’s why we take a different approach to providing water.  Water diplomacy is key—we work closely with our Central Asian partners to manage and protect shared water resources, said Minister Nurzhan Nurzhigitov. 

Additionally, 1.6 billion cubic meters of this water will be sent to the Aral Sea.

Original Author: Danil Utyupin