Starting from October 2024, Uzbekistan has supplied a total of 12.6 billion cubic meters of water to Kazakhstan. This figure is 1.7 billion cubic meters more than the initially planned amount and serves to improve water supply for farmers in the southern regions of Kazakhstan.
This was announced by Nurjan Nurjigitov, the Minister of Water Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at an international forum held in Samarkand. He noted that this volume of water will be used to meet the needs of farmers during the irrigation season.
"Transboundary water distribution and management is crucial for ensuring water security in Central Asia," said Nurjigitov.
The minister emphasized the need for joint action among countries to address water scarcity. Earlier, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan had reached an agreement to supply more than 16 billion cubic meters of water from October 2024 to October 2025.
According to the Ministry of Water Resources of Kazakhstan:
Nearly 1.8 billion cubic meters of water have been released into the Northern Aral Sea, which is 120 million cubic meters more than the previous forecast.
490 million cubic meters of water have been supplied to Kazakhstan through the Dostlik interstate canal.
It is known that the southern regions of Kazakhstan are almost entirely dependent on water coming from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, approximately 60 percent of the water in these areas is used for agricultural needs.
Experts emphasize that the effective and equitable distribution of transboundary water resources is one of the decisive factors for regional stability and food security.
