Kazakhstan is now beginning to face water deficit. According to the UN forecasts, by 2040, Kazakhstan will be short of 50% of its water demand. As known, almost all economic sectors depend on water supplies.
Our fresh water sources are limited. Population headcount grows and water availability goes down, which is a natural process. That is why, water is the main problem for Kazakhstan, about the solution of which, we need to start thinking here and now.
The Zhas Alash Newspaper interviewed the Minister of Melioration and Water Economy of the Socialist Kazakhstan, merited hydro-technology expert Nariman Kipshakbayev to explore what measures need to be taken by the country leadership to prevent the water crisis.
“I commented on various topics, out of which the most serious one is water. I would call Kazakhs “brainless apes, chopping branches, on which they sit”. Because they absolutely do not understand, why we need water. Today, nobody worries about it. It has been 30 years, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but there is no progress in the discussed sphere. In the Soviet past, we were at the same level, as was Ukraine -second after Russia. Today, we are lagging behind Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and Turkmens. Because we have unprofessional politicians in power. In the Soviet times, specialists were professionals. Sometimes, it appears to me, that our leadership would deliberately get rid of professionals. Politicians wanted to cannibalize this country, and it was the President, who started that. Professionals tried to interfere, but the ruling regime pushed them all away, one after another. From the very beginning, we did not have the ideology, by which we would grow into a developed country. Can a person, motivated only with materialistic considerations, achieve that? Let us take a look at the Japanese – they built a powerful state from zilch.
Water is the sources of life. I was in Africa, Arab World, Americas…everywhere. Europe has been troubled by the water problem for three years, now. Now, we are talking about it in Kazakhstan. Statehoods rests on soil and water. A country without land and water is no country. Our rulers do not care about that, that only have oil and non-ferrous metals on their mind. Kazakhs have sold out everything, except of their Father and Mother. Our land and water are gone. The roots of the country are undermined. I want the youngsters to be aware of that”.
You Can Run, But You Cannot Hide from Tomorrow
“All starts from and with water. There is no industry that would be water-free. For example, one day this machines building plant director comes to me and demands thousands of cubic meters of water. This is when I start to ask questions about why we did not follow Japan, which country spends twice as less water to make machines. Should we not think about how to preserve and consume less?
When you are a Hydro-Technology Engineer, your view on the core source of life is different. Water is artery”.
Every day, every resident of Kazakhstan consumes 250 liters of fresh water.
“When you build a levy, or a water management facility, you transform water into a resource. Water is what tightly binds us with our neighbors. The average surface water-content resource of Kazakhstan is 100 cubic kilometers a year. One half of that resource is in the cross-border rivers. There is the international water legislation. Once in three years, UN summons water experts. 22 March was declared the Day of Water. On that day, the UN rallies water experts from 200 countries, to find solutions to various problems.
Every citizen of Kazakhstan consumes 250 liters of fresh water a day. In Mali, they only consume 5 liters a day. This is what we call Water Famine. But the consciousness of our people does not even have such a term.
As an expert, I am in disagreement to the statement, that in Kazakhstan we are running low on water. Our region is vast. Deserts occupy up to 60-70% of our territory. But we have significant subterranean water resources. In the times of USSR, I discovered 100,000 subterranean water sources. On the surface, we installed pumps and infrastructure, but in the subsequent 30 years, all of that got forgotten. It is important to remember, that we still have water. Its recovery is the future task.
Now, let us discuss the land. We have 270 million hectares of land. 180 million of them are pastures. We cultivate 30 million hectares. 80-90% of our land are suitable for agriculture. Only Kazakhs can see the land with half an eye.
If to walk about harvesting, then only 2 million out of those 30 are irrigated. In the times of USSR, we cultivated and ploughed 30 million hectares. Today, that figure does not exceed 17 to 18. So, the question is – where is the rest? Neither the Premier, nor the Economy Minister can answer that. We could harvest 30 million tons of grains. Now, let us think about that.
In the Soviet times, we had 30 million lambs cruising 180 million hectares of pastures. Today, that headcount is three times less, and we do not have enough pastures to host all of them. Why? It makes me want to cry, when I think, where we are heading…”
“Mafia Leases Land, Uses It and Fleas Abroad”
“Land management also needs some scientific approach, be it plain field or pasture. In the Soviet past, collective farms would get not more than 3-4 thousand hectares of irrigated land. Those limits came from science research. Land for cultivation of wheat was divided into lots, each 100 thousand hectares. Those lots do not need irrigation, as rain precipitation is sufficient. All of that was considerately studied by scientists. When we plant into irrigated land, we must maintain the fertility of soil. Today’s thugs rent the land, use it for 10 years and then run abroad.
In the Northern regions of Kazakhstan, the fertile soil is 1 meter deep. It takes 100 years to prepare 1 centimeter of fertile soil. We call it crop rotation. One year, you plant wheat, then barley, they corn. Nazarbayev ruined all that. In the past, they did not think about why 3 thousand hectares were given for irrigation and 30 thousand — for the planting of wheat.
For example, we have the Dostyk Channel in Zhetysay, where out of 130 thousand hectares of land, some 40% were given for cotton growing. The rest of the lot is used for the planting of various cultures. In the past, such an order of things was strictly observed. Now, let us take a look at Makta-Aral, from which territory they cut-off 3-10 hectares? Cotton was planted at 130 thousand hectares. The planting is done in such a way, that fields are irrigated at different periods of time. Now, what happens these days? By law, they receive 100 cubic meters of water from Dostyk Channel. And when they irrigate the cotton, the water consumption is 200, not 100. Why? Because all farmers only deal with cotton. All of them should irrigate at one time. That is why, we are low on water. If we proceed to do so, we will lose 130 thousand hectares of land. The land is getting more and more salty. That is why, 500 thousand Kazakhs are abandoning their habitats and leaving”.
Syrdariya Depletion Rate is 150%
“Now, let us resume our discussion about water. Water volume in River Syrdariya is 37 billion liters. We use 50-60 billion. The demand is very high. Four countries own 3.5 million hectares of land along that river. Syrdariya is the only river on Earth thatused to 150%. So, the question is, what will happen in future. Kazakhstan cannot understand the core of the problem. That is why, I cannot put the blame on people of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan or Uzbekistan. Our of 37 billion, out share is 16 – more than others. How can you refuse to give water to those thirsty? Today, the UN has a new regulation, by which every country must provide to its citizens 100 liters a day.
Water management is when you take water from river and direct it to plants, factories and pastures. At present, I do a research in water management. It is a historic review of water use from 1917 till today. Water management was done by districts and oblasts. In the Soviet times, we would build a channel and plant a field with crops. We would build major water storage facilities. We had research centers. I used to work in the Kazakh Water Management Research Center. This year, it will turn 100 years. But they privatized the center. Its archives disappeared in the matter of one month. I travelled to Astana and talked to government officials. I told them to buy the archive, as long as the private owners did not need it. They seemed to be in agreement to that. But there is no result yet. Can you imagine, that in the past we had 7 centers of the kind in Kazakhstan. None of them is in operation today. If one day Kazakhstan needs a big-scale research into water management, there will be no resources capable of that. Turkey or USA will do that research”
Russians Contra Nuclear Power Plant Close to Russian Border
“We know, that our Government decided to build a Nuclear Power Plant in Balkhash. I think that is a bad idea. Could they not select some other place? I worked in Semey for 6 years. That place is totally polluted. There, we got the Kurchatov Town, where USSR ran nuclear tests. Why not build the plant there? They say, Russians are against it, because they do not want a nuclear center close to their border. Now, let us talk about Uzbeks. They plan on building a plant close to Arnasay, the place they received from us. That means Kazakhs will suffer again.
Balkhash gets 10-12 billion tons of water from China. If we build a nuclear power plant in Balkhash, the Lake will be dead. And Chinese will say – “You Kazakhs killed your own lake, why would we let our water flow to Kazakhstan?” As an expert, I am against a nuclear power plant in Balkhash. We killed Aral, let us save Balkhash!”
We Need Water Economy Ministry
“We must set up the Water Economy Ministry. In the first years of independence, I wrote the Water Code, which was in use until 2003. Then some changes happened, but that is a natural process. Now, the government wants to have a new law. And they came to me, for me to check it. I found that law underthought. That law will ruin our water economy. We need to hire professionals”.
Nariman Kipshakbayev – state and political activist, Merited Hydro-Technology Engineer of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. Minister of Melioration and Water Economy in 1981-1990.
Translated texts do not reflect the position of the news agency. They are published for information of our audience.
