Summer can be a quiet time in Central Asian capitals, but this August officials in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have launched initiatives designed to get a handle on water-related challenges threatening the region.

Uzbekistan has unveiled a three-year water-management programme that strives to promote conservation via the modernisation of the country’s vast irrigation network. Under the plan, antiquated equipment will be replaced on over 2,500 kilometres (1,553 miles) of canals and other hydraulic systems, covering 1.4mn hectares of farmland. 

Drip technologies will be introduced on 300,000 hectares and digital systems will manage water flows across the network, the programme envisions. Pumping stations will be powered by renewable energy sources.

Once implemented, the modernisation is projected to reduce soil salinity and bring 460,000 hectares of land back into cultivation. According to initial projections, overhauling the network will save 10bn cubic metres (bcm) of water during the first year of the programme and up to 14bcm by 2028. Uzbek officials have not put a price tag on the modernisation initiative.

A statement released on August 12 by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced the creation of a water-management training centre that will help ensure state personnel make the most efficient use of the new technologies. A public awareness campaign will also be developed to encourage better water conservation habits among the population.

Kazakh officials, meanwhile, are allocating 305mn tenge (about $566,000) to expand the national Caspian Sea Research Institute. The sea’s level has declined by roughly two meters over the past two decades due to global warming-related factors, and some projections show the shrinkage will accelerate so that by the end of the century the sea may lose up to a quarter of its surface area.

The upgrade to the institute will facilitate research aimed at gaining a better understanding of the factors driving the decline, while also helping to develop effective restoration measures. The funding will additionally enable experts to broaden efforts to measure fish stocks and search for the causes of mass seal deaths.

A more immediate concern for Kazakhstan is an extremely dry summer that has caused a water shortage. The Syr Darya River is running at up to 40% below its normal water level for this time of year, threatening crop yields in the Turkestan and Kyzylorda regions. Reservoirs are also recording worryingly low levels.

Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev announced that Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to allocate 600mn cubic metres of water to Kazakhstan to alleviate the shortfall over the near term. The Uzbek and Kyrgyz supplies are expected to start flowing into Kazakhstan by the end of August.

Local media also report that Kazakh officials are exploring a deal with an American firm, Dynamic Aviation, to confront yet another water-related hazard — flooding. Authorities are eager to avoid a repeat of the widespread flooding in 2024 that displaced tens of thousands of citizens and caused millions of dollars worth of property damage.

On August 12, company officials met with Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, Kazakhstan’s minister of water resource management, to discuss potential projects on flood forecasting and mitigation. Virginia-based Dynamic Aviation also bills itself as a “leading company specializing in oil spill response.”

Meanwhile, Turkmenistan is trying to catalyse a multilateral response to the Caspian Sea-level issue. The Trend news agency reported on August 12 that Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov has circulated a blueprint outlining possibilities for collective action and is seeking commitments from other regional states to convene a summit of Central Asian leaders devoted specifically to preserving the sea’s “ecological integrity.”

At an August 14 meeting of the Central Asian Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC), a forum that brings together officials and experts from all five regional states, Bozumbayev, the deputy Kazakh prime minister, sounded an alarm, asserting that dwindling water resources are insufficient to meet growing agricultural needs. He also acknowledged that the ICWC to date has been ineffective in creating a viable resource-management system. 

“The times require more dynamic [action] from us,” Bozumbayev said, according to a government statement. “It is necessary not only to discuss and plan, but also to take specific measures.”

Officials from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have convened multiple meetings in August, striving to develop more efficient water distribution and management systems covering the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins.

This article first appeared on Eurasianet here.