The Ministry of Agriculture of Kyrgyzstan explained the reason for the termination of water supply to Kazakhstan

The Ministry of Agriculture of Kyrgyzstan commented on the situation with the water supply of the Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan. According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic, water allocation with Kazakhstan is carried out in accordance with water intake schedules, which are developed annually before the beginning of the growing season and signed with the co-chairs of the Chu-Talas Water Management Commission. But in 2023, these schedules were agreed and approved only in June, taking into account the current situation with low water content of sources, reports 24.kg . On July 17-19, 2023, Bishkek hosted a meeting of representatives of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to address water allocation issues along the Chu and Talas rivers. The Kazakh side reported on the difficult situation in the Talas River basin with the supply of irrigation water to water users of the Zhambyl region and requested its increase from the Kirov reservoir from July 18 to July 31 this year to 45.0 cubic meters per second. The ministry clarified that according to the signed schedule, the Kazakhstan region was supposed to receive 40 cubic meters per second. The Kyrgyz side informed about a similar difficult situation with irrigation in the Chui and Talas regions, where headquarters were established due to lack of water, water turnover schedules were developed to provide irrigation water to water consumers, and notified the Kazakh side that with a flow rate of 45.0 cubic meters per second by August 1 of this year, Kazakhstan's share is only 3.54 million cubic meters, which, when the consumption of 10.0 cubic meters per second will be exhausted by August 4, 2023. Despite the above calculations and arguments, the Kazakh side did not refuse its request. At the same time, the Kyrgyz side saved its water intake limit by introducing a water turnover schedule, although farmers in Kyrgyzstan were also in dire need of irrigation water. It should be noted that up to today the water content of the sources of the Talas Valley remains very low," the Ministry of Agriculture informed. Following the meeting, a protocol was signed, according to which, starting from the second decade of August, water will not be supplied to the Kazakh side. At the same time, it was agreed that, subject to an increase in the inflow to the Kirov reservoir, the collection of water from the Republic of Kazakhstan will be considered. Unfortunately, today the water flow in the reservoir is only 1.0 cubic meters per second, there is no increase in inflow, in 2022 the water intake was 13.7 cubic meters per second. It should be noted that Kazakhstan has the opportunity to receive water from the Talas riverbed through the collector-drainage network along the state border in the amount of 5 to 8 cubic meters per second," the ministry added. As previously reported, there is a shortage of irrigation water in Zhambyl region due to insufficient water supply from the Kyrgyz Republic. In the region, farmers affected by the drought will be compensated for the damage.