On November 1, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov met with Zhang Xiao, the Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan, to discuss bilateral water cooperation and the joint use and distribution of water from transboundary rivers.
Three large rivers in Kazakhstan — the Ertis, the Ile, and the Emel — originate in China.
The two countries established a special working group of experts to negotiate the provision of water to the Ile-Balkhash basin and develop fisheries and tourism in the region.
The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan intends to sign a memorandum of cooperation with the Ministry of Water Resources of China shortly.
The Kazakh minister and Chinese ambassador discussed joint modernization and automation of Kazakhstan’s water infrastructure, production and use of water-saving technologies, and advanced training of Kazakhstani water specialists in China.
Late in August, The Times of Central Asia reported that the Kapchagay reservoir outside Almaty was full for the first time in ten years.
The reservoir collects water from the Ile (or Ili) River, which originates in China and is meant to regulate the river’s flow on its way to Kazakhstan’s largest lake, Balkhash.
