Central Asia: Strategic Agreement Between Kazakhstan And Germany On Water Resources Management
For centuries, water shortage has been one of the fundamental and intractable problems for all Central Asian countries. During Soviet times, in the 1970s, Moscow was even engaged in diverting rivers and wanted to redirect part of the resources of some large Siberian waterways towards the Central Asian steppes and deserts in order to turn huge arid and dead territories into “blooming gardens.”
In the 21st century, climate change has made the problem of water scarcity even more acute and pressing. International cooperation can be a good solution. On October 18, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan and German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) signed an “agreement on the implementation of a regional water management program in Central Asia with regard to climate change.” On the Kazakh side, the agreement was signed by the Minister of Water Resources Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, and on the German side, the document was signed by the senior manager of the GIZ team of specialists, Caroline Milow.
The agreement, the first of its kind, provides for the implementation of a number of vital projects during the period 2024-2027. An information message published on the Kazakh ministry website notes that the program, in addition to Germany and Kazakhstan, will also involve all neighboring countries, from Afghanistan to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Its implementation is taking place within the framework of the Green Central Asia international initiative, which provides for “the development of measures to improve the efficiency of water use in the region, the implementation of pilot projects for water resource management, with regard to climate impacts and the adaptation of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins to climate change.”
As part of the four-year agreement, Germany will provide experts, technology, as well as significant financial resources. In parallel, GIZ will train a team of local specialists. “I hope that our joint actions will allow us to achieve our goals and strengthen cooperation between the countries of Central Asia in the issue of water resources management. Effective and proper use of water is one of the main challenges our region is up against, so we will jointly solve all the tasks facing us, with the support of our German partners,” said Kazakh Minister Nurzhan Nurzhigitov after signing the agreement.
