Water shortages in Central Asia were discussed in Kyrgyzstan.

The event was attended by Marat Imankulov, Secretary of the Security Council of the Kyrgyz Republic; Almazbek Sokeev, Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture, and Processing Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic and Director of the Water Resources Service under the ministry; government specialists; representatives of the scientific and expert communities; the diplomatic corps; and international organizations.

In his speech, Marat Imankulov, Secretary of the Security Council of the Kyrgyz Republic, emphasized that the problem of depletion, pollution, and reduction of water resources, especially freshwater, is becoming a critical issue not only in Kyrgyzstan and the Central Asian region, but also globally, requiring immediate action to conserve it.

“Almost all experts and international organizations, in their forecasts, come to the disappointing conclusion that in the next 25-30 years, humanity will face a global shortage of drinking water. By 2050, the planet will have sufficient water resources to meet the needs of nine billion people. However, water resources will be distributed unevenly,” the speaker emphasized.

According to him, citing the FAO and the World Water Council, excessive environmental degradation and climate change will lead to water shortages in many developing countries.

“The UN, in its reports and expert assessments, notes that if measures to conserve water resources are not taken now, more than 5 billion people will have problems accessing water by 2050. World Bank analysts predict that by 2050, with the population of Central Asia growing to 90 million, water shortages are expected to reach 25-30%. Furthermore, demand for water used for agriculture could increase by 30% by 2030. This will also negatively impact economic indicators and citizens’ income levels. According to the UN, Central Asian countries are already losing up to $2 billion annually due to shortages and inefficient use of water resources,” he said.

Secretary of the Kyrgyz Security Council M. Imankulov addressed the issues of interstate transboundary water allocation. He recalled that the largest transboundary rivers in the Central Asian region—the Amu Darya, Syr Darya, Chu, Talas, Tarim, and Karkyra—originate in Kyrgyzstan, supplying water to Kyrgyzstan and neighboring Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and China. He emphasized that many existing agreements on the allocation of transboundary water resources between the countries of the region were concluded during the Soviet period, are outdated, and require revision based on the current situation and mutually beneficial considerations.

Currently, there is an urgent need for active regional integration and joint cooperation between states on water and climate change. Advancing positions on this issue and defending national interests is only possible through open dialogue and the active participation of all countries in these discussions, as virtually all waterways in Central Asia are interdependent and interconnected. Following thorough discussions and the identification of mutually acceptable compromises, interstate agreements should be revised to reflect the current situation, and new agreements on mutually beneficial terms for the exchange of electricity and water supplies should be concluded, the speaker believes.

According to the speaker, to address water resource shortages, urgent measures must be taken now to:

– Ensure the protection of glaciers, groundwater, and underground water, and promote their development and rational use;

– Restore the state water cadastre system and adapt it to modern challenges and current realities;

– Digitalize water management infrastructure to improve water resource accounting mechanisms in the Kyrgyz Republic, including for timely monitoring and forecasting of water use;

– Continue to initiate the development and adoption of a multilateral regional document on water relations between Central Asian countries based on equal partnership, good-neighborliness, and the rational distribution of the region’s water resources for mutual benefit;

– Implementation of a basin council system throughout the republic, development and approval of basin plans, and construction of daily and ten-day control basins for collecting meltwater, which in turn will allow for more efficient regulation of water resources;

– Transition to water- and energy-saving technologies by attracting as many domestic and foreign investors as possible to these sectors of the economy;

– Active implementation of drip irrigation technologies, which deliver water directly to the root system of plants;

– Widespread installation of motion sensors for faucets, which will allow water to flow only when needed, will reduce water consumption by 30-40%;

– Improving the efficiency of all water management structures, as well as reconstruction, restoration, modernization, and repair.