Central Asian countries discussed water shortages

In the capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, on September 15, as part of the Fifth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, during a meeting of the board of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS, created in 1992), they agreed to form mechanisms to solve the problem of water scarcity. The meeting was attended by the presidents of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhormat Tokayev, Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, and Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov was absent from the forum; he was represented by First Deputy Prime Minister Adylbek Kasymaliev.

Bishkek froze its participation in the fund’s activities in 2016. Then the management argued this decision by saying that IFAS does not take into account the hydropower aspects of water use and the needs of individual states in the region, and the fund’s member states refused the proposals of the Kyrgyz side to reform the organization.

Bishkek’s refusal to participate in IFAS may be associated with the trans-regional Syrdarya River, which previously flowed into the Aral Sea, but due to a catastrophic decrease in water level it now flows into the northern part of the sea (due to drying out, the Aral has been divided into parts since 1989. – Vedomosti “,” believes Stanislav Pritchin, an expert at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies at IMEMO RAS. Today, about 75% of the flow of this river basin is formed on the territory of Kyrgyzstan. And the problem of the drying up of the Aral Sea, according to the expert, does not directly affect the Kyrgyz people.

At the meeting, the heads of state discussed the results of the program for the rational use of water resources of the Small and Large Aral Seas.

According to President of Uzbekistan Mirziyoyev, water shortages have become acute and irreversible and will only worsen in the future. He added that today, as a result of the shortage and inefficient use of water resources, the countries of the region lose up to $2 billion annually, and the damage caused by the deterioration of the environmental situation can reach up to 11% of regional GDP.

Tokayev drew the attention of the summit participants to the problem of global warming, which, according to him, is happening in Central Asia faster than the average on the planet. This problem is leading to a rapid reduction in the area of ​​glaciers, the main source of water in the region. “The volume of the Aral Sea has decreased by 30% over the past 50 years. According to analysts, by 2050, droughts in Central Asia could cause damage in the amount of 1.3% of GDP per year, which will lead to the emergence of about 5 million internal “climate” migrants,” the presidential press service reports Tokayev’s words.

To solve this problem, the Kazakh leader proposed developing a work plan for the implementation of a unified automated system for accounting, monitoring and distribution of water resources in the Aral Sea basin. In addition, he stated the need to expand the powers and responsibilities of the IFAS board and executive committee. Tokayev also proposed transforming the Interstate Coordination Water Commission into the Interstate Water and Energy Commission.

In turn, President of Turkmenistan Berdimuhamedov proposed creating a regional center for technologies related to climate change in the region, working closely with the UN. And the leader of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, proposed the creation of a special platform within the framework of IFAS to resolve issues related to energy security.

The Central Asian republics have been facing the problem of drought for several years due to abnormal heat, which provokes disputes over transboundary water supplies. At the end of August, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture reported that the inflow of water into the Kirov reservoir on the Talas River, which provides irrigation water to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, amounted to only 0.7 cubic meters as of August 23. m/sec, which is 13 cubic meters. m/sec less than in the same period last year. As a result, during this period the volume of the reservoir decreased from 87.2 million to 13.4 million cubic meters. m of water.

In mid-July, Astana asked the Kyrgyz side to increase water supply from the reservoir from 40 to 45 cubic meters. m/sec. But Bishkek responded that with an increase in flow from July 17 to August 1 to 45 cubic meters. m/sec by August 1, the remainder of Kazakhstan’s quota for the entire season will be reduced to 3.54 million cubic meters. m, after which the consumption will have to be reduced to 10 cubic meters. m/sec. On August 6, Kyrgyzstan stopped supplying water resources to its neighbors, but left the possibility of returning to the issue if the inflow into the reservoir increases. But he never grew up.

On August 22, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Agriculture Erbol Karashukeev announced that water shortages had led to serious losses in the republic’s agriculture. According to him, about 46% of grain crops (8 million hectares) are in satisfactory condition, 7.5% (1.3 million hectares) are in poor condition, and crops on 181,000 hectares were destroyed. Because of this, on the same day the governor of Zhambyl region announced the introduction of a state of emergency in six districts.

At the same time, since August 20, long queues of trucks from Kyrgyzstan have periodically appeared on the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border. Bishkek accuses Astana of creating artificial obstacles to the passage of cars due to the fact that the Kyrgyz authorities have stopped supplying water to the neighboring republic. In turn, Kazakh border guards explain the traffic jams by the need to combat drug smuggling.

To solve water shortages, regional states must first improve the efficiency of using water resources through new technologies, says Pritchin. As an example, the expert cited the strategy of Uzbekistan, designed until 2030, which provides for concreting part of the existing irrigation systems in order to reduce water losses. “The states could cooperate in this area. In addition, we need to coordinate in the hydropower sector and jointly build hydroelectric power stations, but this will require serious investments, which the states of the region do not have,” added Pritchin.

In the region since the 1990s. There has been severe deterioration of the water management complex, and therefore it is necessary to increase the efficiency of these facilities, continues Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. “There is no need to draw in any rivers; it is necessary to reduce leakage and evaporation. There are technologies that allow us not to resort to large infrastructure projects,” Likhacheva said. She also emphasized the need for more efficient use of water resources, in particular through water cycling and drip irrigation technologies.

To solve the Aral problem, according to Likhacheva, it is necessary to gradually restore the ecosystems of the Small and Large Aral. “It is necessary to assess the rate of soil restoration, the grafting of plant crops, and monitor changes in the number of fish,” Likhacheva said. She also noted that the success of the initiative depends not only on funding, but also on the coordination of the efforts of all parties.