The Kazakh Ministry of Water
Resources and Irrigation presented the new Water Code in the Mazhilis, a Lower
House of the Parliament. The document is aimed at introducing a number of
significant innovations, with priority given to the efficient use of water
resources as well as the intensive implementation of water-saving technologies
and water reuse systems. Farms and factories without such systems must submit a
transition plan no later than two years from the date of the new code’s
introduction. Special attention is paid to treated wastewater, which should
become one of the water supply sources and be actively used in all sectors of
the economy. In addition, the document stipulates the use of the country’s water
resources without depletion, pollution and clogging of water bodies. Thus,
operations related to subsoil use, except for exploration or extraction of
hydrocarbons in the Caspian Sea as well as salt and therapeutic mud extraction,
are prohibited. Certain provisions of the new Water Code provide for
stimulating investment in the industry and government support for research in
the field.
“The new Water Code envisages the use of
treated wastewater as one of the main tasks of water legislation. Accordingly,
we plan to increase the amount of water reuse by industrial enterprises, which
stands at only 17 percent out of 5.9 cubic kilometers of total fresh water
intake, to 50 percent by 2030. The document also defines mechanisms for
ensuring the water security of Kazakhstan in line with Article 6 and measures
for adapting the water sector of the economy to climate change in line with Article
7, which are absent in the current version,” said Bolat Bekniyaz, Kazakh First
Vice Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation.
