Ecology Ministry comments on Kyrgyzstan's statement on water shortage

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Фото: gov.kz
ASTANA. KAZINFORM A low level of water in the Talas River and abnormal hot and dry weather led to insufficient water discharge from the Kirov Reservoir to Kazakhstan during the growing season, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources says.

The Ministry took a decision to keep the volume of water discharged from the Kirov reservoir to Kazakhstan at 45 m3 per second until August 1, while the volume of water supplied to Talas dam was 30 m3 per second only.

«These measures enabled to save the harvest in Baizak, Zhambyl and Talas districts on the area of about 26,000 hectares.

Crops are watered mainly by cleaning the drainage systems, which is carried out by Kazvodhoz in the territory of Kyrgyz Republic along the state border. These measures allowed to minimize the harvest loss and supply water to the mentioned districts,» a statement from the Ministry reads.

The Ministry notes that approximately 560 hectares of croplands along the Talas river suffered from water shortage in whole (the agreements cover about 26,000 hectares, and this allowed to save up to 99% of harvest).

«Similar measures were launched in 2021, when Kyrgyz side fulfilled its water supply obligations from the run-off and Kazakhstan managed to keep its harvest without significant losses. This year, the sides agreed on increasing water inflow to the reservoir and the volumes of water supply will be increased, or Kazakhstan will take water from runoffs,» the Ministry says and adds that it was a least-evil solution. As practice showed, the measures were justified.

Earlier it was reported that Kyrgyzstan reduced supply of irrigation water to Kazakhstan.

Water shortage in Central Asia has been an acute problem in the past several years, which hugely impacts water distribution among the countries of the region. In July, crops in Zhambyl region which borders Kyrgyzstan faced a threat of drought, when farmers raised an alarm and blamed the neighbor country in construction of reservoirs along the trans-border rivers. Later, Bishkek hosted a bilateral meeting to negotiate water apportioning problem on Chu and Talas rivers. However, the problem of water deficit remained unsolved in August.

The Kyrgyz side says the country faces the same situation because of low level of water in the rivers. By supplying water to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz authorities had to reduce it for own agricultural needs. The sides are looking for the most suitable solution now.

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