Uzbekistan to provide Kazakhstan with 922 million cubic meters of water during irrigation season 

The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of the Republic of Kazakhstan has reached an arrangement with Uzbekistan about the supply of 922 million cubic meters of water to the southern regions of Kazakhstan. The water will be delivered by the Dostyk interstate canal during the 2024 irrigation season.  

These arrangements were reached during the 86th meeting of the Interstate Coordination Commission for Water Management combining Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, attended by Kazakhstan’s Water Resources Minister Nurzhan Nurzhigitov. 

«The minister has successfully negotiated the supply of 922 million cubic meters of water to Kazakhstan through the Dostyk interstate canal during the irrigation season. At the same time, the Shardara reservoir in the Turkestan region has accumulated 4.8 billion cubic meters of water,» the water ministry’s press service said in a statement. 

The Toktogul reservoir in Kyrgyzstan, which usually supplies water to farmers in the south of Kazakhstan, has accumulated 8 billion cubic meters of water.

«The top priority for us right now is to collect the floodwater. We are sending it to the Caspian Sea, Lake of Balkhash, Kamys-Samar Lakes, from the Ulytau region to lakes in the Kyzylorda region. However, we also have to think about supplying water to our southern regions. And we rely on diplomacy here a lot,» Nurzhigitov highlighted.

Participants of the meeting have also approved a projected schedule for the Naryn-Syrdarya cascade of reservoirs until September 30 of this year. Moreover, the officials also discussed a set of issues related to the International Fund for Saving of the Aral Sea where Kazakhstani holds the presidency this year. 

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been trying to improve their transborder water management for a while. For instance, they agreed to install special devices to calculate the volume of transborder water on each side of the border and to share their data on water consumption. Previously they used approximate figures.

The context. For years, southern regions of Kazakhstan have been suffering from shortages of water. For example, six districts of the Jambyl region were forced to declare a state of emergency due to a lack of irrigation water in August 2023. As a result of the drought, many farmers have received nothing from their fields except for financial losses and debt. Authorities estimated the damage at $6.8 million.

As Kursiv reported in November 2023, Kazakhstan has reached arrangements with Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan about water withdrawal from the rivers of Syr Darya and Amu Darya. For instance, 11.1 cubic kilometers of water was expected to reach the Shardara reservoir by April 1, 2024, while the expected water withdrawal through the Dostyk interstate canal was supposed to reach 487 million cubic meters of water.

This water diversion will allow authorities to collect the necessary volume of water for the 2024 irrigation season in the Turkestan and Kyzylorda regions and deliver 1.6 billion cubic meters of water into the Aral Sea.

Last year, Kazakhstani water resource officials also reached an arrangement with their Uzbek counterparts about increasing the supply of water going to the Shardara reservoir in the Turkestan region by up to 200 cubic meters of water per second.