Water expert warns: Salinization could trigger food crises and migration across regions

How serious is the problem of saltwater intrusion into freshwater resources today, especially for countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam and The Gambia?

If we are talking specifically about coastal areas, we could say this is becoming almost a global trend. More and more people are living near the seashore, so water demand is increasing, especially in coastal zones. Often groundwater resources are overused, and when that happens, saltwater from the sea can contaminate freshwater wells.

At the same time, coastal countries have access to seawater, so they can partially solve this issue through desalination plants. The technology is improving and becoming more widespread. But there are important drawbacks.

First, desalination is very energy consuming. If you use seawater to produce freshwater, you need a lot of energy. Second, the process creates concentrated salt waste that is discharged back into the sea, increasing local salinity levels and affecting marine ecosystems.

How significant is the threat of salinization to global food security and access to drinking water in vulnerable regions?

When we speak about food security, we are already speaking about irrigation. Population growth increases demand not only for drinking water, but also for agriculture.

If irrigation systems are overused and salinization occurs, crops can no longer grow properly because salt is a major inhibitor for plants. This can seriously affect agricultural areas.

For example, in Casablanca, there was a significant increase in drinking water demand, so desalination plants were built. But desalinated water was too expensive to use for irrigation, so some irrigated areas had to be reduced. That directly affected food production.

Could salinization become one of the causes of food crises and forced migration in the future?

In coastal areas, salinization is one important issue among many global challenges. In Central Asia, for example, the problem is not seawater intrusion, but limited freshwater availability.

If you have less water and a growing population, then naturally you can produce less food. But there are also possible solutions. Countries can import food from regions where rainfall and agricultural conditions are better.

In a way, when you import food, you also import water. Some studies show that buying products such as carrots from countries with more favorable conditions may actually be more efficient than producing them locally in water-stressed areas.

Governments often feel safer producing their own food, but this is not always possible. International trade and trust between countries can also help address food security issues.

What measures and technologies are currently considered the most effective for protecting freshwater resources and ecosystems?

Desalination is definitely one of the key technologies for regions facing seawater intrusion. But it is not a miracle solution because of the high energy demand. There is a very strong connection between water and energy.

At the same time, the answer is not only technological. Partnerships and cooperation are equally important. Some regions naturally have better conditions for growing food, so exchanging goods and importing agricultural products can also be part of the solution.

Who should bear the cost of addressing these challenges: governments or international organizations?

At the end of the day, people always pay in one way or another. Governments should focus on improving water management and increasing water-use efficiency in agriculture, industry and domestic consumption.

Water is fundamentally a local issue because transporting it is difficult and expensive. If regions continue overusing water resources, people themselves will eventually face higher costs and shortages.

Water issues are becoming increasingly sensitive for Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Do you see risks related to deteriorating water quality and soil salinization in the region?

Kazakhstan has several important advantages. It is a very large country with low population density, and northern Kazakhstan receives more rainfall. Water stress is therefore very uneven across the country.

This is why basin-based management approaches are important. Kazakhstan has already chosen to develop basin management systems, and I think this is the right direction because solutions should remain local and adapted to each basin.

For example, regions near the Caspian Sea could potentially use desalination because Kazakhstan has access to energy resources there. Northern regions with more rainfall will require different approaches.

What steps should Central Asian countries take now, given the environmental challenges in the region, including the Aral Sea crisis?

Central Asia faces a very contrasting situation. Upstream countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have significant water resources because of the mountains, while downstream countries including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan depend on water coming from upstream.

This requires regional agreements and stronger cooperation. Right now there is still a lot of competition and overuse of water resources, while ecosystems continue to suffer.

Some rivers no longer fully reach the Aral Sea. If we take the Chu River as an example, in the 19th century it was connected to the Syr Darya basin, but today this connection has disappeared. In some places, water is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to access.

Some areas could eventually become hardly livable because water resources are receding and the cost of bringing water continues to increase.

The countries of the region need to understand that shared water resources are a common interest. There is potential for win-win solutions through economic cooperation and coordinated water management.

A thirsty Kazakh can be a hungry Kazakh. At the same time, upstream and downstream countries could build mutually beneficial cooperation. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are economically stronger, while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan possess more water resources.

There is a trade-off. More support from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan could help create more balanced water-sharing arrangements.

Are there examples of international cooperation frameworks that Central Asia could follow?

One example is the development of the European Union. European integration started with cooperation on coal and steel in the 1950s and later evolved into broader coordination, including integrated water resource management.

Today, European countries coordinate their planning while following common goals and timelines.

Central Asia already has institutions such as the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), but regional coordination still needs improvement.

If you think more globally, including economic growth, then you enter into the same logic as when the European Union was built after the war. We started to share benefits by producing steel and sharing coal. The same kind of path could be a solution for Central Asia.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Kazakhstan had saved 874 million cubic meters of water through the introduction of water-saving technologies in agriculture, industry and urban infrastructure.