Kazakhstan and Netherlands step up cooperation on flood and drought forecasting
Kazakhstani and Dutch specialists held a technical session on the development of Kazakhstan’s national early warning system for floods and droughts and the integration of water infrastructure data, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said, Qazinform News Agency reports.
The session was opened by Vice Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Aslan Abdraimov and chaired by Khairulla Kairatgali, chairman of the Board of the Information and Analytical Center for Water Resources.
During the meeting, programmers and engineers from the Dutch research institute Deltares, the developer of the Delft-FEWS platform on which Kazakhstan’s forecasting system is being built, conducted in-depth technical work with Kazakhstani counterparts.
Representatives of the embassy of the Netherlands and Agip Karachaganak B.V. (Eni) also participated in the session. UNDP technical advisor Hubert Lohr, who is supporting work with the TALSIM-NG hydrological model, joined the discussions online.
The participants reviewed the expanded capabilities of the Delft-FEWS platform, procedures for processing and using data, and the tasks planned for the next stage of the project.
The platform currently covers 11 river basins, with the number expected to increase to 16 by the end of the year.
Particular attention was placed to improving the platform’s configuration, optimizing workflows and training specialists from the Information and Analytical Center. Cooperation with Deltares will also include training in satellite-data processing tools to help monitor the condition of water bodies.
Work is also progressing on drought forecasting. Specialists have identified the necessary indicators and begun automating the relevant calculations.
The project is being implemented by the Information and Analytical Center for Water Resources with financial support from Agip Karachaganak B.V. (Eni).
We conducted an in-depth technical review of the system together with the platform’s developers, and we are already building the information foundation for forecasting - fine-tuning calculations, verifying data and improving the accuracy of assessments. This work is being carried out in advance so that, by the start of the forecasting season, we can use the system’s full capabilities, said Vice Minister Aslan Abdraimov.
According to the ministry, the creation of a national early warning system will bring together data on water resources and infrastructure, improve the quality of hydrological forecasts and enable faster responses to flood and drought risks.
Earlier, Qazinform reported Kazakhstan had begun the second stage of developing eight basin plans for the protection and use of water resources.