Afghanistan's actions will worsen the water crisis in Kazakhstan

The launch of the Kushtepa canal in Afghanistan will have a significant impact on the situation with water resources in Central Asia. International relations expert Baikadam Kuramaev stated this at an international conference, World of NAN reports with reference to vb.kg.

“Lack of water resources leads to drought, soil degradation and desertification, which we see in the countries of Central Asia. Another reason for the water shortage will be the construction of the Kushtepa irrigation canal in Afghanistan, which will take almost 60% of the water from the Amu Darya River, which will affect the downstream countries - Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan,” the expert said.

Kazakhstan replenishes the Shardara reservoir from the transboundary rivers of the Amudarya. Therefore, water withdrawal by Afghanistan could significantly aggravate the water crisis for Kazakhstan as well.

"Kazakhstan is a water-dependent country. According to international studies, only about 3% of its territory is covered with water, the rest being arid zones. A significant part of water resources comes from neighbouring countries, making the issue of using transboundary rivers for Kazakhstan vital. By 2030, the volume of fresh water may decrease fivefold, which is comparable to the annual consumption rate of this country," Kuramayev added.

In his opinion, the water crisis can become an excellent leverage. The West can use the acute shortage of hydro resources in Central Asia to create leverage on local elites, up to replacing them, provoking and creating hotbeds of conflict on the borders of Russia and China. Therefore, the countries need to unite and more actively address the problem of water scarcity.

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