Central Asian states are demonstrating an increasing willingness to cooperate in managing water resources. 

Officials from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have signed an agreement covering allocations from the Bahri Tojik reservoir during the summer crop-growing season, the Tajik Ministry of Energy & Water Resources announced in a May 30 Telegram post. Under the agreement, which runs from June through the end of August, Kazakhstan is allotted 491mn cubic metres (mcm) of water for crop irrigation, the official Kazinform news agency reported.

“We can effectively resist climate challenges only with cooperation,” the media outlet quoted Kazakh Minister of Water Resources Nurzhan Nurzhigitov as saying. Official reports did not specify the water allotments for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The Bahri Tojik (formerly Kayrakkum) reservoir, sometimes known as the “Tajik Sea”, is one of landlocked Tajikistan’s largest. It was built in 1950 to draw water from the Syr Darya River. An analysis of the Syr Darya Basin for 2024-25, published by the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia, showed that during the non-growing season from October to March, the amount of water released from Bahri Tojik slightly exceeded intake. At the same time, more water from the Syr Darya reached the Northern Aral Sea than projected.

In addition to managing water resources, regional states are striving to coordinate hydropower production. Officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed a protocol in Tashkent in mid-May covering the operation of hydropower facilities to guarantee the “uninterrupted and efficient operation of water and energy systems during the summer,” Kazinform reported.

This report first appeared on Eurasianet here.