Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan plan to strengthen cooperation in the water sector, including the installation of automated gauging stations on the Syr Darya River – five in each country. The project, supported by the German Agency for International Cooperation, is designed to improve transparency and accuracy in the allocation of transboundary water resources. Technical specifications have now been finalized. This was announced at a meeting of the Kazakh-Uzbek joint working group in Turkistan, attended by the heads of relevant ministries of both countries. The two sides also agreed to exchange experience in water-saving technologies. This year, mechanized cleaning of the Dostyk Canal and repairs to its headworks will continue. In 2025, the countries signed an intergovernmental agreement on the joint management and rational use of water bodies, aimed at strengthening water diplomacy in Central Asia.
«The region’s water resources are clearly transboundary in nature, yet in recent years all our countries have updated their national water legislation. We have adopted a new Water Code, the Kyrgyz Republic has done the same, and we are now hearing that Tajikistan is now working on its own. Under these circumstances, there is a natural need not for unification, but for harmonization of approaches, so that national reforms complement each other. A framework convention could establish common, clear, and flexible principles of cooperation, such as transparent water accounting and data exchange,» said Kazakh Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov.
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