The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan reported that Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have reached an agreement to establish a Joint Kazakh-Uzbek Commission on Water Relations and expand the digitalization of transboundary water accounting.
These agreements were signed on August 8 in Turkistan during the fourteenth meeting of the Joint Working Group on developing proposals to deepen bilateral cooperation in the field of water relations.
The working group was chaired by the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan, Nurzhan Nurgzhigitov, and the Minister of Water Resources of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Khamraev. The meeting was also attended by the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan, Yeraly Tugzhanov.
The parties discussed the implementation of the intergovernmental agreement between the two countries on the joint management and rational use of transboundary water bodies. The Kazakh and Uzbek sides positively assessed the ratification of this agreement and reviewed the draft regulations for the Joint Kazakh-Uzbek Commission.
It is expected that this commission will become a permanent mechanism for implementing the agreement on the joint management and rational use of transboundary water bodies.
Participants also focused on the digitalization of water resource management. The parties approved the progress in the project to automate hydrological stations in the Syr Darya basin and agreed to expand this system.
As part of the project, with the support of international financial institutions, it is planned to automate 10 hydrological stations on the main transboundary watersheds, five stations in each country. This system should ensure transparent water accounting, online data transmission, and the creation of a unified database for information exchange.
After the meeting, the parties agreed to hold the fifteenth meeting of the Joint Working Group in Uzbekistan.
Nurzhan Nurgzhigitov noted that the format of bilateral cooperation allows for the prompt resolution of specific water resource management issues. According to him, the ratification of the agreement by both countries forms a new legal basis for further interaction.
The Deputy Minister of Mining and Geology of Uzbekistan, Rustam Yusupov, met with a delegation from the Interstate Water Coordination Commission to discuss expanding joint work on the study and sustainable use of groundwater resources.
Specialists from the state institutions Uzbekhydrogeology and the Institute of HYDROENGINEERING took part in the meeting. Participants reviewed achievements in ensuring the sustainable use and protection of groundwater in Uzbekistan. Furthermore, they exchanged information on projects being implemented in Central Asia aimed at promoting water resource management, climate change adaptation, as well as international and grant projects concerning transboundary waters.
Following the meeting, the parties agreed to prepare and sign a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Mining and Geology of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Interstate Water Coordination Commission. This memorandum provides for cooperation in researching transboundary aquifers and geothermal resources within the water-energy-land (NEXUS) approach, implementing an automated monitoring system, and jointly organizing events for the professional development of hydrogeologists in the fields of international water diplomacy and water law.
