Kazakhstan will receive 600 million cubic meters of water from Kyrgyzstan via the Shu and Talas rivers
Kyrgyzstan will ensure the supply of more than 600 million cubic meters of water to Kazakhstan during the irrigation season of 2025. Since the beginning of the season, in April, the Kazakh side has already received 45 million cubic meters, according to the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
It is planned that starting from the end of April Kyrgyzstan will additionally send 400 million cubic meters of water along the Talas River and 180 million cubic meters along the Shu River. These volumes are intended for the needs of agriculture, in particular, for irrigation of fields in the Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan.
This agreement was reached at the 35th meeting of the joint Kazakh-Kyrgyz commission on the use of interstate water facilities on the Shu and Talas rivers. The key participants in the negotiations were Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurzhan Nurzhigitov and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry of the Kyrgyz Republic Bakyt Torobayev.
This agreement is especially important in light of the events of the summer of 2023, when there was an acute shortage of irrigation water in the region. The situation led to some tension between the two countries, as Kazakhstan claimed that there was insufficient water supply from Kyrgyzstan via transboundary rivers, which jeopardized the harvest in the southern regions. The Kyrgyz side, in turn, referred to the lack of water and the need to meet its own needs.
Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurzhan Nurzhigitov said that last year, in 2024, despite the difficulties, joint work with Kyrgyz colleagues made it possible to fully provide irrigation water to farmers of Zhambyl region. He said that the Talas River actually received 418 million cubic meters of water with a forecast of 380 million, and the Shu River received 165.3 million cubic meters, which exceeded the previous year’s figure by 29.7 million cubic meters.
At the meeting of the commission, the parties also discussed the functioning of a joint working group dealing with environmental protection and monitoring of water quality in the basins of the Shu and Talas rivers. Representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Emergency Situations, Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan, as well as the Akimat of Zhambyl region took part in the work of the commission. The commission was co-chaired by Vice–Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Aldamzharov and Deputy Minister – Director of the Water Resources Service under the relevant Ministry of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurlan Zhumaev.
