Kazakhstan to begin construction of 20 water reservoirs in 2024-2026
The Water Council of Kazakhstan chaired by Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov has held a meeting to discuss the issues of water infrastructure modernization, Kazinform News Agency reports citing primeminister.kz.
As minister of water resources and irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov reported, Kazakhstan has 102.3 cubic meters of water, 54% of which is formed in the territory of the country, while 46% is supplied from neighboring countries. The annual consumption of water by the sectors of economy is about 25 cubic meters of water, 65% of which is used for agriculture, and 25% - for industry.
There are 17,736 rivers and intermittent streams, 4,024 lakes, 4,540 underground water deposits, and 13,175 water facilities countrywide.
To ensure the country’s water security and tackle the water scarcity problem, a draft Comprehensive Plan of Water Infrastructure Development for 2024-2030 was elaborated. The plan includes construction and reconstruction of water reservoirs, hydrotechnical facilities, irrigation systems and ground water supply systems.
The implementation of the plan will let expand the country’s water resources by 3.7 cubic kilometers, and the area of irrigated lands – up to 2.2 million hectares. 41 settlements with the population of more than 55,000 people will be provided with water.
As per the Plan, construction of 20 new water reservoirs with the volume of 2.4 cubic kilometers of water will be launched in the territory of nine regions in 2024-2026. This will let increase the area of irrigated lands by 250,000 hectares and reduce flood risks for 70 settlements with the population of 137,000 people. This measure will also help reduce Kazakhstan’s dependence on neighboring countries in water supply by 25%.
15 existing water reservoirs with the volume of 1.9 cubic kilometers located in nine regions will be reconstructed. This measure will help provide 74,000 hectares of irrigated lands with water and reduce flood risks for 64 settlements with the population of 70,000 people.
A large-scale reconstruction of irrigation systems, the digitalization of irrigation channels and modernization of Satpayev strategic channel is also planned.
Alikhan Smailov tasked to attract domestic companies to the implementation of the abovementioned measures.
