Kazakhstan preparing water management system development concept for 2024/30

There are over 17 thousand rivers and temporary water streams, four thousand lakes, 4.5 thousand groundwater deposits, over 13 thousand water management facilities. Of the total number of water management facilities, 6,501 are in the republican ownership, 6,296 in communal ownership, 528 in private ownership and 31 are unowned, said Ibraikhanov during a meeting of the Committee on Agrarian Issues in the Majilis.

In general, around 65% of the water resources the country uses annually are used to meet the country’s agricultural needs… The country loses over two cubic kilometers of water due to aging infrastructure in irrigated agriculture, according to the vice minister.

Ibraikhanov said that the ministry carries out the work on the concept for the development of the water resources management system for 2024/30 to reconstruct the facilities and boost the efficiency of waterways.

The ministry prioritizes the intensive construction of new water management facilities and repairing of the existing ones. During the floods, there was great tension in Aktobe, Turkestan, Kostanay, Akmola, West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions. Moreover, bursts of major reservoirs in neighboring Russia and China posed the task of diverting water coming to our country through transboundary rivers in the most secure manner, concluded Ibraikhanov.