Kyrgyz side has national idea of selling water to Kazakhstan - Daniyar Ashimbayev
As per preliminary data, grain corn dried out mostly in the Zhambyl fields, while sugar beet, vegetables and melon crops suffered to a lesser extent.
As reported, as of August 9, the volume of the Kirov reservoir in the Talas River basin amounted to 32.48 million cubic meters, which is 144.8 million less than in the same period last year (177.28 million). With Kazakhstan’s demand in 45m3 per second, in fact, no cubic meter of water is supplied from the Talas River.
This is not the first time when the problem with irrigation water supply from transboundary rivers from Kyrgyzstan arises in the south of the country. This year, drought is said to be the main reason of the problem, while in previous years water was supplied at the behest of the Kyrgyz side. Well-known political scientist of Kazakhstan Daniyar Ashimbayev shares his view on the problem of irrigation water shortage with Kazinform correspondent.
According to him, this is a long-standing problem, both in the south of Kazakhstan and within the country.
«Last year, they said that the irrigation system was laid incorrectly. Another problem was a wrong forecast of the rivers' fullness. And the third problem is related to the neighbors. As one colleague recently said, Kyrgyz side has a national idea of selling water to Kazakhstan,» Ashimbayev says.
He emphasizes that the problem of irrigation water shortage in southern regions arises from time to time, but it does not have any systemic solution.
«As for the volumes of water supplied from Kyrgyzstan - mutual supplies, exchange of energy resources, transit through Kordai - all these issues turn out to be interconnected. There is, in fact, no long-term systemic solution to the water supply problem. Each time the problem is tackled anew. It is difficult to say what is the cause of the problem. Either dissatisfaction of the Kyrgyz authorities with the proposed solutions, or the problems arising in other complexes, and water becomes an element of blackmail. Recently, a delegation of Kazakhstan led by the Minister of Ecology held negotiations with Tashkent and Bishkek. And, apparently, these negotiations were not successful. Evidently, a decision shall be taken at a higher level,» he adds.
The ecology ministry, a government body authorized in water management, once again showed a systemic failure in its work, the politician insisted.
«I recollect the Head of State criticized the ministry for water supply issues in Astana. Other regions also face looming issues. Recently, my colleagues stated a shortage of personnel in this system. How many officials involved in water management are regularly caught in corruption offences. I think it is all connected. 50 thousand IT specialists and a mere 50-60 specialists in water management are trained in the country. That is, the water management system is in a regular crisis. The attempt to raise the status of water management resulted in struggles within the Ministry, high profile resignations and scandals, leading to nowhere,» said Ashimbayev.
According to the politician, with no systemic planning in place, the irrigation water shortage is a more serious threat of national scale. He went on to add that adequate measures to settle this issue have not been offered yet.
«The issue has been under discussion not only in Zhambyl region, but across the country for years. Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov and Presidential Aide Asset Issekeshev were involved in dealing with the water management issue recently. It is clear that the issue needs a quick solution. Unfortunately, our negotiators have failed to take the necessary position. It is most likely to be resolved by reciprocal blackmail on different issues, taking as long as a month,» he said.
In Ashimbayev’s opinion, there needs to be a systemic approach to address the persistent problem.
«As of now, there is no such an approach. A long-term strategic agreement with Bishkek neither Astana nor Bishkek go for needs to be in place. Hence, not so many prospects that the irrigation water issue is to find a quick solution in the near future. It is difficult to predict that the situation improves. The problem is likely to repeat regularly. The issue of separating water management into a separate agency (there was the Ministry of Melioration and Water Industry in the Soviet period) was debated recently. Especially since water management is one of the priority issues for Kazakhstan. It is impossible to predict that there will be rapid positive dynamics based on the experience of the past decades. The issue with water in our country is a matter of ill-planned water pipelines, poor climate projections, and long-term solutions with Kyrgyzstan. I think a separate government body staffed with real specialists needs to be created at the ministry level. Therefore, the issue seems to be unsolvable yet,» said Daniyar Ashimbayev.
