Kazakhstan is set to receive 922 million cubic meters of water from Uzbekistan via the Dostyk interstate canal during this year’s irrigation season.
According to a report issued by the Kazakh Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation on 13 May, the matter was determined in an Agreement by the Interstate Water Coordination Commission of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
In addition, the parties formally approved the joint operation of the Naryn-Syr Darya cascade of reservoirs scheduled until 30 September.
It was announced that the Shardara reservoir in the Turkestan region of southern Kazakhstan currently holds 4.8 billion cubic meters of water. The Toktogul reservoir on the Naryn river in upstream Kyrgyzstan, which releases water for irrigating fields in the south, has so far amassed 8 billion cubic meters of water.
During the meeting, a draft agreement was also created ‘On the creation of a mechanism for water and energy cooperation between the countries of Central Asia.’
Kazakhstan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov commented, “Our priority now, is to collect and send flood water to the Caspian Sea, Lake Balkhash, Kamysh-Samar lakes, and from the Ulytau region to lakes in the Kyzylorda region. But it is also important to provide water to the southern regions of Kazakhstan. And in this matter, water diplomacy is very important.”
