Kazakhstan is 44% dependent on transboundary waters, which makes water reservoirs vulnerable. This statement was made by First Deputy Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Bolat Bekniyaz on September 30, zakon.kz reports.
The Ministry official reported on measures taken to reduce water losses in Kazakhstan. The water reservoirs: Aral-Syrdarya (91%), Zhaiyk-Caspian (82%), Shu-Talas (74%) and Balkhash-Alakol (48%) are most at risk, while Tobyl-Torgay (12%) and Yertis (20%) are in a less critical situation.
He also noted that the domestic water infrastructure requires modernisation. There are 13,366 water facilities in the country.
«The average water system depreciation rate in the Republic exceeds 70%. Many water facilities have been in operation for over 30-50 years without major repairs and reconstruction, which makes them high-risk facilities,» Bolat Bekniyaz emphasised.
The Ministry plans to build 42 water storage reservoirs with a capacity of 2.6 billion cubic metres and reconstruct 37 water storage reservoirs and 14,450 km of irrigation canals by 2030 to reduce water losses by 25%.
