Central Asian republics dispute scarce water resources in the Aral Sea Basin

The lack of effective cooperation between the republics through which the two main rivers of Central Asia, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, which have historically fed the Aral Sea, flow, is preventing the region's water problems from being solved. Short-term objectives, such as hydroelectric exploitation or oil exploration, hinder understanding, although recent initiatives point in the right direction.

▲Satellite image of the Aral Sea, with north below [NASA].

article / Roberto Ramírez Millán

source of life, food for crops, means of navigation... There are many functions that water fulfills as a human resource . It is indispensable and necessary for the maintenance and development of any nation. Today this resource is being depleted due to the great industrial expansion of the last centuries, mass population growth and climate change. The dispute over fresh water, given its economic, geopolitical and geostrategic importance, is triggering conflicts between different countries, known as "water wars". This is happening in the Asia-Pacificarea and particularly in the case of the Central Asian region, in the Aral Sea Basin.

Due to the drought that characterizes this area, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers are under particular stress as the main suppliers of fresh water to the countries of Central Asia. Since the collapse of the USSR, together with its organizations for the negotiation of the waters of this basin, and the independence of the countries located in this region, the lack of an effective international organization to regulate the use of this resource among the States has led to a series of international conflicts due to inequalities of access to water.

In 1993 the Kyrgyz Republic began using the Naryn waterfall as a source of hydroelectric power, with the intention of making up for the lack of organic fuel. With this new use of infrastructure, which entailed high water retention during the summer, the Kyrgyz Republic took the opportunity to sell electricity at exorbitant prices in exchange for gas and coal, which it lacks, to countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The states' pursuit of their own profit and the lack of cooperation between them made it impossible to reach any agreement. 

Furthermore, in 1997, Kyrgyzstan declared that the Syr Darya River would no longer be a common good for legal purposes. To this end, it remodeled and restricted the right to its use and demanded financial aid from the States benefiting from this basin to maintain the freshwater reserves available on their territory. Not content with this, it remarked that, if Uzbekistan did not pay, it would sell a large part of this water to China, thus damaging attempts to reach an agreement between the two.

These events have not been the only ones that have hindered cooperation between these countries, but also the sharp global drop in prices for irrigated agriculture, Uzbek cotton crops that require large amounts of water, and the problems resulting from climate change, among others.

Aral Sea

In addition, the current status of the Aral Sea must also be taken into account. Once one of the four largest lakes in the world and providing economic sustainability to the region, the Aral Sea has been in a state of continuous drought since 1960. Due to the aforementioned operations on the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers, the Aral Sea was divided into two parts, the northern and southern lakes, with the eastern part of the southern lake completely evaporating. In the past, the Aral Sea provided between 20,000 and 40,000 tons of fish per year; however, it can now supply only about 1,000 tons.

To deal with drought problems Kazakhstan developed the project "Regulation of the Darya river bed and preservation of the northern part of the Aral Sea". This included the construction of the Kokaral dam on the southern shore of the northern lake, thanks to the support of the World Bank. The dam ensured the growth of the lake by 20%. The project also provided for the Building of a fish hatchery, which promoted the production of 10,000 to 12,000 tons of fish per year.

However, these measures in favor of Aral Sea development are at the same time being counteracted by Uzbekistan's actions. If previously the Uzbek part of the Aral Sea was damaged by high irrigation of cotton crops, it is now oil extraction that is damaging the southern lake. Soil drilling in the Amu Darya River delta and at the bottom of the Aral Sea plays a negative role. In the dilemma between the development of the oil and gas industry and saving its part of the Aral, Uzbekistan is showing which is its priority, given the benefits of hydrocarbon development .

Effective cooperation

Researchers and experts in the region are aware that cooperation among the six countries is indispensable for their development, which is why the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC), a non-governmental organization charged with addressing environmental and sustainability challenges in Central Asia and Afghanistan, was created in 2001. This organization has denounced that the region is losing $4.5 billion annually due to "the lack of effective mutual cooperation between the countries", as indicated by its executive director , Iskandar Abdullayev.

For this reason, on June 8, CAREC hosted the launching ceremony of the Innovation and Scientific research Cluster in the field of water management , the first in Central Asia, whose goal is to "ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of developmentprojects". These and similar initiatives are the first steps towards creating a prosperous and sustainable future, avoiding retaliation and preventing possible "water wars".

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