Environment - The Times Of Central Asia

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Water Supply

Tajikistan Announces Water Infrastructure Drive, Urges Central Asia Cooperation

Tajikistan plans to provide at least 90% of its population with access to a centralized water supply by 2040, in a long-term infrastructure project that would reduce disparities in water services for urban and rural residents. President Emomali Rahmon spoke about Tajikistan’s water goals as well as wider collaboration in Central Asia during a speech at a Dushanbe conference that has drawn delegates from around the world for discussions on water scarcity. Tajikistan and the United Nations are co-hosting the four-day event, which ends on Thursday and is a prelude to a U.N. water conference in the United Arab Emirates in December. In 2023, the World Bank noted that Tajikistan has significant water resources, but said its infrastructure needed large-scale investment and about 55% of its population had access to “safely managed” water supplies. Only 24% of the Central Asian country’s rural population had piped water services, reflecting the big difference between urban and rural areas, according to the World Bank. It also said Tajikistan allocated a far smaller percentage of its annual budget to water supply and sanitation than in other countries in Europe and Central Asia. In his speech on Tuesday, Rahmon said “we are committed to ensuring access” to centralized water supply — a system that can promote quality of service quality and lower costs — for 90% of people in Tajikistan by 2040. “Through this measure, we are determined to guarantee access to clean drinking water for every citizen,” said the president, who has led the country for more than three decades. Tajikistan has more than 10 million people. Rahmon also described “transboundary cooperation in the water sector” as a priority and said Tajikistan will push for more dialogue in Central Asia on addressing critical water challenges. The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea is an effective platform for promoting the “sustainable development” of water resources, according to the president. Other leaders in Central Asia have made similar comments about the fund, a collective effort to address the ecological disaster that followed the collapse of what was once one of the largest lakes in the world. The Aral Sea started shrinking decades ago after Soviet engineers diverted rivers for irrigation. Regional cooperation on water management has gained momentum in recent years, though some officials and analysts are still concerned that water shortages could stir tension between upstream and downstream countries in Central Asia.

Aral Sea

Kazakhstan Says Aral Sea Bed Afforestation Has Reached 1.2 Million Hectares

The environmental disaster of the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake, remains one of the most serious ecological challenges facing Central Asia. The total area of the dried seabed now covers approximately 6 million hectares, including 2.8 million hectares in Kazakhstan. The Aral Sea once covered about 68,000 square kilometers and supported fishing communities along what is now the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border. Its collapse followed decades of Soviet-era irrigation projects that diverted water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, a history The Times of Central Asia previously reported. As full restoration of the Aral Sea's water level is no longer considered realistic, large-scale afforestation has become Kazakhstan's primary strategy for preventing further environmental degradation, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev previously ordered the creation of saxaul plantations across 1.1 million hectares of the dried Aral seabed by 2025. The main objective of the vast green shield initiative was to stabilize exposed soil, reduce wind speed, and prevent the spread of toxic salts, dust, and chemical residues into neighboring regions. Kazakhstan has accumulated nearly three decades of experience in combating desertification in the Aral region, having launched afforestation projects in the 1990s. During the first 30 years of the program, from 1990 to 2020, more than 195,000 hectares of protective forest plantations were established in the Kyzylorda Region with support from international donors. Between 2021 and 2025, afforestation efforts expanded to cover an additional 1.117 million hectares. In 2026 alone, forested areas on the former seabed have already increased by another 116,000 hectares. As part of the program, the authorities have sown 3,440 tons of saxaul and halophyte seeds and planted 53.2 million saxaul seedlings. Officials in the Kyzylorda Region have also acknowledged the difficulty of the work. According to Kazinform, scientific assessments put the survival rate of saxaul stands at around 30%, and work is underway to improve seedling adaptation on the dried seabed. Officials say the new plantations are beginning to show ecological results. Saxaul trees develop powerful horizontal root systems extending up to 12 meters, helping to stabilize soil and protect it from wind erosion. A new ecosystem is gradually emerging across the formerly barren seabed, with rodents, reptiles, and birds returning to the area as natural soil formation processes begin to recover. The authorities are also working to increase the economic value of the afforested territories. Seeds of forage plants are now being sown within the saxaul plantations, with the long-term goal of transforming parts of the rehabilitated land into pasture. Kazakhstan also plans to establish the Aral Ormany State Forest Nature Reserve, which would cover more than 1.3 million hectares. The proposed reserve would receive the status of a specially protected natural area, ensuring the long-term preservation of the newly formed ecosystem and supporting continued ecological restoration on the dried seabed of the Aral Sea. Regional environmental cooperation has also become increasingly important. Of particular significance for the Aral region is the Green Shield of Central Asia resolution adopted...

Waste Processing

Tajikistan Waste Recycling Plant Put on Hold After Iranian Investors Withdraw

A planned Tajik-Iranian waste recycling plant in Tajikistan’s northern Sughd Region has been put on hold after Iranian investors were unable to travel to the country amid the conflict U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The facility was to be built in the Sughd Free Economic Zone in Khujand and had been promoted by local officials as the region’s first large-scale modern waste processing plant. Muhammad Muhammadzoda, head of the free economic zone, told Asia-Plus that the project was to be jointly financed by Tajikistan and Iran, with the Iranian side covering 40% of the costs and the Tajik side financing the remaining 60%. The first phase of construction was expected to require $5 million in investment and create between 30 and 50 permanent jobs. The plant was expected to convert waste into petroleum products and lubricants, with projected annual output of around 200 tons. Muhammadzoda said that Iranian investors had visited Khujand, inspected the proposed site in the city’s third microdistrict, and approved the plan. He said they had delivered one container of equipment and asked municipal authorities to allocate two hectares of land for construction. The Khujand city administration had reportedly agreed to allocate the land, but the process was interrupted before a formal decree could be issued. “We were happy that a waste processing enterprise would be built, that new jobs would be created, and that the waste problem would finally begin to be addressed,” Muhammadzoda was quoted as saying. “But the war involving Iran destroyed all of that. Iranian entrepreneurs tried several times to come but never arrived and eventually stopped communicating altogether.” The delay leaves Sughd without a large-scale modern recycling facility at a time when local officials say household and industrial waste volumes are increasing. In the absence of processing capacity, much of the region’s waste continues to accumulate in landfills, raising environmental and public health concerns. Local officials had therefore presented the joint Tajik-Iranian project as a potentially significant step toward addressing the region’s waste management problems. The Sughd Free Economic Zone was established in 2009 as an industrial and innovation zone offering investors tax and customs benefits, simplified registration procedures, and other preferential conditions. It covers approximately 320 hectares and has a special legal status intended to remain in force for 50 years.

Water Security

Dushanbe Water Talks Put Tajikistan’s Climate Diplomacy in Focus

Conference-related events began in Dushanbe on Monday, May 25, as Tajikistan hosts the Fourth High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development,” 2018-2028. The week gives Tajikistan a fresh stage for a role it has built for years: using water, climate risk, and glacier protection as its clearest route into global diplomacy. President Emomali Rahmon gave the week an early political signal when he met three senior U.N. officials in Dushanbe: Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, U.N. Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP; Retno Marsudi, U.N. Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy on Water; and Tshilidzi Marwala, Rector of the United Nations University and U.N. Under-Secretary-General. Their arrival tied the conference directly to the Dushanbe Water Process, a platform Tajikistan has used to keep water on the international agenda. The Tajik presidential press service said 14 U.N. resolutions on water resources have been adopted at Tajikistan’s initiative. For a small, mountainous country with limited geopolitical weight, that record has become a useful diplomatic asset. Tajikistan can convene governments, U.N. agencies, development banks, and water experts around a topic shaped by its geography. The conference runs from May 25 to 28, with Monday set aside for forums, side events, and regional consultations. The main high-level sessions are set to take place on May 26 and 27 at the Kohi Somon Complex, followed by field visits on May 28. Asia-Plus reported that more than 2,500 participants were expected, including representatives from 31 countries and 33 international organizations and financial institutions. The agenda links Tajikistan’s national concerns to a wider U.N. timetable. The Dushanbe events are designed as a preparatory step before the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, now scheduled for December 8-10 in Abu Dhabi, and co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal. Tajik officials are also presenting the process as a bridge towards 2028, when the Water Action Decade reaches its final year. Tajikistan has spent more than two decades building this diplomatic niche. The International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development,” 2018-2028 began on World Water Day in 2018 and ends on World Water Day in 2028. The Dushanbe Water Process was then shaped as a regular follow-up platform, including for voluntary commitments made under the U.N. Water Action Agenda. That structure has given Tajikistan repeated opportunities to host, frame, and guide discussion rather than appear only as a country seeking aid. Tajikistan’s glaciers, rivers, hydropower system, and mountain communities all face pressure from climate change. The U.N. glaciers initiative has put new attention on glacier retreat, and Tajikistan has pushed glacier preservation as part of its global water agenda. In Central Asia, melting glaciers and shifting river flows affect more than one country; they shape energy supply, irrigation, disaster risk, and food security. Water also connects Tajikistan to its neighbors. The region’s major rivers cross borders, and upstream water use affects downstream farms and cities. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan hold much of the mountain headwater geography, while Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan depend heavily on reliable flows for...

Aral Sea

Opinion: Can the Aral Sea Be Saved? Central Asia’s Water Cooperation Test

For most people, the Aral Sea is known through climate documentaries and satellite images as shorthand for ecological disaster. Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, it withered after Soviet planners diverted its two lifelines, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, to turn Central Asia into a cotton empire. Over almost five decades, as much as three-quarters of the water in these river systems has leaked into desert soils rather than reaching the sea. NASA satellite data show that the blue inland ocean has been replaced by dusty basins. We all know that story. But the more urgent question is different: can the Aral Sea still be “saved” in any meaningful sense, in a century of climate stress and water shortages? Is it still capable of being restored to health? The honest answer is yes, but only if Central Asian states and their international partners stop treating it as a frozen symbol of Soviet failure and begin governing the entire basin as a shared, climate-vulnerable commons. Anything less is nostalgia with good drone footage. From Lake to Warning Signal The Aral Sea once covered about 68,000 square kilometers and supported fishing communities along what is now the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border. Before the large-scale Soviet irrigation projects of the 1960s, its level depended mainly on inflow from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, with smaller contributions from precipitation and groundwater. In the arid climate of the basin, the sea’s stability depended on a fragile balance between river inflow and water loss through evaporation. That balance began to collapse after Soviet planners expanded irrigation for cotton and rice, diverting water from rivers that had fed the sea for centuries. Evaporation continued while river inflow fell, and the sea shrank rapidly. By the early 2000s, time-lapse images published by NASA’s Earth Observatory showed large areas of deep blue water turning into exposed seabed and dust plains within a generation. The consequences went far beyond a retreating shoreline. As the water receded, the exposed seabed became the Aralkum Desert, a source of toxic dust contaminated with salt as well as fertilizer and pesticide residues. Winds carry that dust across farms and towns, degrading soil and crops while exposing residents to serious health risks. The IFAS Agency in Uzbekistan, a working body of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, coordinates projects and programs in the Aral Sea basin. The collapse of fisheries also devastated local livelihoods and food supplies. Researchers have linked the wider Aral Sea crisis to higher rates of respiratory disease and anemia. Some studies have also reported elevated cancer risks. The loss of such a large body of water has changed the local climate. Without the sea’s moderating effect, summers have become hotter and drier, while winters have become colder. These pressures are now compounded by climate change and the retreat of glaciers in the upstream mountains that feed Central Asia’s river systems. The Aral Sea is therefore more than an environmental tragedy. It is a warning of what can happen when political...

ARYK.AI

From Ancient Aryks to AI: Almaty Student Proposes Digital Water Solution

In Almaty, 10th-grade student Amir Alniyazov has developed an artificial intelligence project called ARYK.AI that aims to help city services respond more quickly to clogged aryk channels, localized flooding, and water overflow after heavy rainfall. At first glance, the issue may appear purely municipal: aryks, trash, leaves, rainwater, and utility workers clearing blocked channels. But the aryk system is tied to a much longer urban history. In Central Asia, an aryk is not simply a ditch. It is a traditional water channel that has helped sustain settlements in dry climates for centuries. Aryks irrigated gardens, cooled streets, supplied water, and made urban life possible in parts of the region where summer heat and limited rainfall shaped daily life. In foothill cities such as Almaty, they also became part of the city’s drainage infrastructure. Almaty’s modern aryk network developed during the Verny period, when the city was under Russian imperial rule. By the late 19th century, aryks had become an important part of urban infrastructure. In 1899, a main aryk was built to help distribute water through the city. During the Soviet period, many aryks were lined with stone or concrete, gradually shifting from simple irrigation channels into a visible part of the city’s stormwater system. But the 21st century has brought new pressures. Almaty has expanded rapidly, traffic has increased, and more of the city has been covered with asphalt. Leaves, garbage, and household debris continue to accumulate in aryks. As a result, a system that once quietly carried water through the city is now also expected to help manage urban flooding. [caption id="attachment_49362" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] From a personal photo archive[/caption] Where residents once monitored aryks through daily observation, modern Almaty faces a more complex problem: heavier traffic, denser construction, more paved surfaces, and faster information flows. Alniyazov’s project attempts to bring one of the city’s oldest water systems into the digital age. That is the idea behind ARYK.AI. The system combines AI, water-level sensors, a Telegram bot, an online monitoring map, and routing technology for municipal services. The concept is straightforward. If water levels in an aryk rise sharply, or if trash, silt, leaves, or fallen branches begin to accumulate, the system is intended to issue an early warning before the problem turns into flooding on city streets. The project has two main components. The first is citizen reporting. Residents and visitors to Almaty can use a Telegram bot based on a “single-window” principle to report flooding, blockages, and other problems. Users can attach photos, videos, and geolocation data. AI then processes the information, identifies the nature of the problem, and assesses how urgently municipal services need to respond. The second component relies on sensor data. Water-level sensors installed above aryks can transmit real-time information to the digital platform. If the water rises to a critical level, the system records an alert and sends it to the monitoring program. This is where the system’s more advanced functionality begins. The AI does not simply collect complaints and sensor readings for later...