Eight water management basins operate in Kazakhstan, seven of which are transboundary and encompass 58 rivers. Water resources are shared with China, Russia, and the countries of Central Asia. The protection and use of transboundary rivers are carried out within the framework of intergovernmental agreements. In particular, a joint Kazakh-Russian commission cooperates on four rivers. Kazakh specialists also take part in an interagency group regulating the Iriklinsky Reservoir. With China, an agreement has been reached to construct a joint water distribution facility on the Ulken Ulasty River. Last year, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan signed a new agreement on the joint management of transboundary water bodies. The results are already evident: more than six billion cubic meters of water have flowed into the Northern Aral Sea, increasing the basin’s volume to 23 billion cubic meters. Cooperation in this area is also underway with the World Bank.
«Participation
in these international agreements reflects Kazakhstan’s commitment to the
sustainable and rational use of water resources, the protection of aquatic
ecosystems, and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation with
neighboring states. Kazakhstan actively cooperates with the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe in implementing the Helsinki Convention and is
represented on the Convention’s Bureau. This confirms the country’s leading
role in shaping the international agenda and in decision-making in the field of
transboundary water cooperation,» said Nurlan Aldamzharov,
Kazakh First Vice Minister of Water Resources and
Irrigation.
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