Kazakhstan to receive over 920 million cubic meters of water from Uzbekistan via Dostyk canal

Kazakhstan will receive 922 million cubic meters of water from Uzbekistan via the Dostyk interstate canal in the upcoming irrigation period. The corresponding agreement was reached at the 86th meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC), which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Nearly five billion cubic meters of water have been collected from the Shardara reservoir in the Turkistan region. A total of eight billion cubic meters of water used for irrigating fields in the South Kazakhstan region have been accumulated at the Toktogul hydropower plant in the Kyrgyz Republic.

“Our primary task now is to collect floodwater. We are directing it to the Caspian, Balkhash, and Kamys-Samar lakes, from the Ulytau region to the lakes of the Kyzylorda region and others. It is also important to provide water to the southern regions. In this regard, water diplomacy is crucial,” said Bibarys Danabayev, spokesperson for the Kazakh Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are currently developing a draft agreement ‘On establishing a mechanism for water and energy cooperation among the Central Asian countries’.

Web-editor: Aizhan