Kazakhstan will receive 922 million cubic meters of water from Uzbekistan during the irrigation season through the "Dostyk" canal.
The agreement was signed by the head of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan, Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, during a meeting of the Interstate Coordinating Water Management Commission with his counterparts from Uzbekistan. The commission includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, Sputnik reports.
According to the ministry, 4.8 billion cubic meters of water have been collected in the Shardara Reservoir of the Turkestan region, and 8 billion cubic meters of water have been collected in the Toktogul Reservoir of Kyrgyzstan, which is used for irrigating fields in southern Kazakhstan.
"Our top priority now is to collect floodwater. We are directing it to the Caspian Sea, Lake Balkhash, Lake Kamys-Samarskie, from the Ulytau region to the lakes of the Kyzylorda region, and so on. But at the same time, it is important to provide water to the southern regions. Water diplomacy is very important in this matter," emphasized Nurzhigitov.
In addition, the meeting participants discussed the work within the framework of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea.
Also under development is a project for an agreement "On the creation of a mechanism for water and energy cooperation among the countries of Central Asia."
CentralasianLIGHT.org
May 13, 2024