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200 Million Cubic Meters of Water Directed to the Aral Sea

In 2024, the agrarians from the Kyzylorda region of Kazakhstan introduced water-saving technologies on 55,000 hectares of rice fields, saving over 200 million cubic meters of water. These saved resources were directed to the Aral Sea, helping to improve its water levels. During this year's irrigation season, about a billion cubic meters of water were delivered to the Northern Aral, three times more than last year. Since the beginning of the year, the volume of water sent to the sea has reached 2 billion cubic meters, and the total water in the sea has reached 22 billion cubic meters. Kazakhstan's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, emphasized that this result was made possible not only by effective water diplomacy with neighboring Central Asian countries but also by actively using water-saving technologies. To encourage their use, the government has increased subsidies to farmers. In 2024, subsidies rose from 50% to 80%, and in the next three years, will be brought to 85% for small-scale farms using efficient irrigation methods. These measures aim to further restore the Aral Sea's water level, which is one of the region's leading environmental objectives. Successes in water conservation demonstrates that innovative technologies can be crucial for addressing perennial water scarcity and ecosystem restoration. Water diplomacy in Central Asia plays a crucial role in solving the problem of water level reduction in the Aral Sea. Uzbekistan is actively cooperating with Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan on the rational use of water resources in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins. One critical steps was the signing of an agreement on the exchange of electricity between the countries, which has allowed the volume of water used for irrigation to be regulated, and improved the state of the region's ecosystem. In addition, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are actively introducing water-saving technologies to optimize water consumption in agriculture, which is freeing up resources to replenish the Aral Sea. These measures have helped to increase water inflow to the Northern Aral Sea in recent years, maintaining its level and improving conditions for local ecosystems.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Agree To Establish Stations for Syr Darya Water Measurement

The press service of the Ministry of Water Management and Irrigation of Kazakhstan reports that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have agreed to install ten automated measuring stations in Syr Darya to accurately measure water resources. Shavkat Hamroyev, the Minister of Water Management of Uzbekistan, met with Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, his counterpart in Kazakhstan, with the two reportedly discussed automating measuring stations and digitizing water accounting in Syr Darya. Nurzhigitov emphasized that negotiations with international financial organizations and companies are in progress for the joint implementation of the project. The ministers also discussed the modes of operation of the Norin-Syr Darya cascade reservoirs for next year’s pre-irrigation season. “Many thanks to our colleagues from Uzbekistan for their active participation in the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFSA) meeting and the proposals voiced," Nurzhigitov stated. "Over the year, we have become convinced that our joint work produces positive results, so we intend to continue close bilateral cooperation. We have common views on many issues. This allows us to resolve most of the existing issues on a mutually beneficial basis.” In return, Hamroyev expressed Uzbekistan’s desire to strengthen cooperation within the IFSA. “Uzbekistan fully supports Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the International Fund... We want to strengthen cooperation in this direction and work on joint projects. For example, preserving the ecosystems of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya basins, providing residents with quality drinking water, restoring small and local water bodies.” In addition, the parties discussed developing a regional strategy for the use of water resources. In May of this year, Hamroyev told a parliamentary hearing that watersheds from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers are forecasted as being favorable this year.

Kazakhstan Chairs International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea

Since the beginning of 2024, 1.9 billion cubic meters of water have been sent to the North Aral Sea, raising its volume to 22 billion cubic meters. This announcement was made by Kazakhstan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov  at the first meeting of the Board of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) on September 18, attended by delegations from  Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan ( as an observer country). The IFAS was established in 1993 to unite efforts by participating countries to mitigate the negative impact of the Aral Sea's desertification on the natural environment and the region's population. Discussions focused on progress on two large-scale projects: a program to assist the Aral Sea basin countries, and the Regional Environmental Protection Program for Sustainable Development in Central Asia, which aims to develop the principles of green economy and adaptation to climate change. The meeting commended Kazakhstan's commitment to working in close cooperation with other Central Asian states on preserving the Aral Sea and approved plans for work to be undertaken by the IFAS under President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev chairmanship from 2024-'26. "At the height of this year's irrigation period, up to 80 cubic meters of water per second flowed into the sea along the Syr Darya River, compared to only six cubic meters per second last year. In recent years, the volume of water in the North Aral Sea has been decreasing, but since the beginning of 2024, it has increased again and reached 22 billion cubic meters," stated Nurzhigitov. " To ensure a further increase -  we are strengthening water diplomacy and developing the second phase of the North Aral Sea conservation project." The North Aral Sea, the portion of the former Aral Sea fed by the Syr Darya River, split from the South Aral Sea in 1987–'88 when water levels dropped due to water diversion for agricultural use. According to the Kazakh Ministry of Water Resources, 75% of the flow of the Syr Darya River comes from Kyrgyzstan, 20% from Uzbekistan, and 5% from Kazakhstan.

Uzbekistan’s Largest Glacier Melts by 20 Meters in 12 Months, Expedition Finds

BBC Uzbekistan has reported, quoting the country’s Hydrometeorology Research Institute, that at the beginning of August an expedition of Uzbek and German scientists trekked to the Pakhtakor glacier, situated in the eastern part of Uzbekistan. The study of the Pakhtakor glacier, which is extremely difficult to reach and located in the Bostonliq district of the Tashkent region, near the borders with Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, started in July of last year. The latest expedition found that Uzbekistan's largest glacier tongue (an extension of a glacier or ice stream projecting seaward) had retreated by 20 meters in the last year. The surface of the ablation part (the initial part of the glacier where the ice melts faster) has melted by 3 meters. Pakhtakor is one of the largest glaciers feeding the Pskom River. There are about 140 large and small glaciers in the Pskom River basin, which has a total area of 128 square kilometers. According to the BBC report, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, studies of permafrost were rarely conducted in other Central Asian countries except Kazakhstan. Although there are few glaciers in Uzbekistan, they play an essential role in the ecosystem. In low-water years, glaciers provide up to 25% of the total flow. Maksim Petrov, the head of the Center for Glacial Geology at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of Uzbekistan, says the country's glaciers are melting at different rates. “The melting rate is almost in line with the average rate in Central Asia. However, the melting rate in our mountains in the eastern part is not high, and the glaciers have melted only up to 20%. The glaciers in Surkhandarya have melted by 40%. The most catastrophic situation is in Kashkadarya — up to 70%,” Petrov said at a roundtable discussion held by Cabar Asia in May. Petrov added: “Large glaciers are breaking up and breaking into pieces. It seems the number of glaciers is increasing, but their area is shrinking.” Various scientists point out that the shrinking area of glaciers has yet to seriously affect the water balance in Central Asia, and the observed water shortage is mainly caused by population and industrial growth. But in 2015, German researchers warned that glaciers in the Tian Shan mountains, which play an essential role in maintaining the water cycle in the region, are rapidly melting. Half of the total ice mass is forecast to melt by 2050. “Today, Tian Shan is losing an amount of ice equivalent to twice the annual water consumption of all of Germany,” the 2015 study stated.

Ecological Limit: Five Year Countdown to Water Scarcity in Central Asia

Combating climate change requires collective action by all or a sufficient majority of the world's players supporting global initiatives. Otherwise, it may soon be too late to take any action. To address the issue, the Eurasian Development Bank, the CAREC Think Tank, and the Asian Development Bank organized a two-day forum entitled “The Climate Challenge: Thinking Beyond Borders for Collective Action,” in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Focusing on means of achieving genuine regional cooperation on Asian climate action, the eighth CAREC Think Tank Development Forum was attended by policymakers, experts, and opinion leaders from more than 30 countries. The extensive two-day dialog, consisting of eight sessions, opened with a discussion on the effectiveness of current global initiatives related to climate change: the Paris Agreement, the Global Environment Facility, and the Green Climate Fund. Attention then turned to deepening cooperation among as many stakeholders as possible through multilateral platforms such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Asia's role in the global fight against climate change, and the difficult balancing act between economic growth and decarbonization efforts were discussed at length. Simply put, the rapid growth of the Asian economy is inevitably accompanied by an increasing consumption of energy, the generation of which leads to increased emissions and pollution. Climate damage due to human impact can be halted and even reversed. However, because this can only be achieved with technological intervention, it poses problems for developing economies unable to afford advanced technologies. Hence, establishing a framework and mechanisms for global technology transfer were key to discussions. Water and finance were also high on the agenda and the subject of a paper presented by Arman Ahunbaev, Head of the Center for Infrastructure and Industrial Research of the Eurasian Development Bank on “Ways to close the investment gap in the drinking water supply and wastewater sector in Central Asia." Ahunbaev reported that 10 million people, or 14% of the population in Central Asia, do not have access to safe drinking water and warned that without intervention, the situation would reach the point of no return in the coming years. To prevent this from happening, he stressed the urgent need for solutions to four problems. The first problem is a twofold increase in the volume of water intake for municipal and domestic needs, based on past figures which showed a growth from 4.2 cubic kilometers in 1994 to 8.6 cubic kilometers in 2020. The second problem is the severe deterioration of water supply infrastructure and treatment equipment, and the third, technological and commercial water losses in distribution networks. The fourth problem is related to the demographic boom and, consequently, the rapid urbanization of Central Asia's population. Cities are expanding and  their infrastructure needs to develop accordingly. According to experts, in 2023, urbanization in Central Asian countries will reach 49%, and by 2050, 61%. By 2030, the urban population will exceed that in rural areas. Ahunbaev noted the need for improvement in financing the water supply and sanitation sector in Central Asia since according to rough...

Kazakhstan’s Kapchagay Reservoir Fills Up For First Time In A Decade

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation announced on August 26 that the Kapchagay reservoir outside Almaty was completely full for the first time in ten years. Created in 1970 as an artificial lake, 100km long and up to 25km wide in places, the reservoir can hold more than 18 billion cubic meters of water. The reservoir collects water from the Ili River, which originates in China. This spring, the ministry said up to 900 cubic meters of water per second flowed into the reservoir, attributing the increased inflow to the melting of the Tien Shan mountain glaciers and higher than usual rainfall. The reservoir was initially meant to regulate the flow of the Ili River on its way to Kazakhstan’s largest lake, Balkhash. Today, it is used for irrigation, fish farming, and recreation. Located a one-hour drive from Almaty, its beaches are popular with holidaymakers. According to Medet Kerimzhanov, deputy head of the Balkhash-Alakol basin inspectorate, the last time the Kapchagay reservoir was 100% full was in 2014. Today, 750 cubic meters of water per second are released from the reservoir to irrigate fields. Kerimzhanov added that the irrigation season in the region will continue until the end of September. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Water Resources said it was drafting an intergovernmental agreement between Kazakhstan and China on distributing water from transboundary rivers — the Ertis, the Ili, and the Emel. To date, the parties have reached a consensus on several provisions of the future agreement, the ministry said.