In accordance with the decision of the Water Council under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Alihan Smailov, Kazakhstan intends to reduce its water dependency on neighboring states by a quarter in the coming years, TASS reports.
During the meeting of Kazakhstan's Water Council, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov explained that Kazakhstan has a total of 102.3 cubic kilometers of water, with 54% generated within Kazakhstan and the remaining 46% coming from neighboring countries.
Annual consumption by economic sectors amounts to about 25 cubic kilometers of water, of which 65% is allocated to agriculture and 25% to industrial needs.
Overall, the country has 17,736 rivers and temporary watercourses, 4,024 lakes, 4,540 deposits of underground water, and 13,175 water management facilities.
"To ensure the country's water security and address the issue of its shortage, a comprehensive plan for the development of water management for 2024-2030 has been developed. It includes a series of urgent measures for the construction and reconstruction of reservoirs, the reconstruction of hydraulic structures, irrigation systems, and group water supply systems," the statement from the Government of Kazakhstan said.
The government emphasized that the implementation of the plan will increase available water resources by 3.7 cubic kilometers, irrigated land areas by up to 2.2 million hectares, reduce annual losses of irrigation water by 3 cubic kilometers, and provide water supply to 41 settlements with a population of over 55,000 people.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 11, 2023