Under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov held a meeting of the Water Council. The progress of execution of instructions of the Head of State given in the Address to the people of Kazakhstan "Fair Kazakhstan: law and order, economic growth, public optimism" and at the enlarged Government session on 7 February this year on transformation of water resources management system to address water availability and quality problems was considered, primeminister.kz reports.
The report of the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov on key areas of work was heard. Among them are construction and modernisation of hydraulic structures, introduction of water-saving technologies, tariff policy, flood forecasting and modelling, as well as improvement of the legislative base, staffing and professional development of specialists.
In order to develop the country's water and resource potential and modernise the management system, a draft Water Code has been developed and is under consideration in the Majilis of Parliament. Emphasis is placed on protecting the country's water resources from depletion and pollution, introducing modern water-saving technologies and strengthening responsibility for violations in the water sector.
Within the framework of the Comprehensive Plan for the development of the water sector of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2024-2028, the construction of 42 new reservoirs, reconstruction of 37 hydraulic structures, as well as the construction and reconstruction of about 14 thousand kilometres of irrigation canals are envisaged. The first stage from 2025 envisages construction and reconstruction of 11 projects, modernisation of 3,452 km of irrigation canals in six regions and construction of a structure to feed the city of Astana.
To encourage farmers to switch to water-saving technologies, amendments were made to the Rules of investment subsidies. Thus, the share of reimbursement of costs for the purchase and installation of water-saving technologies was increased from 50 to 80 per cent. It is envisaged to increase the share of reimbursement of farmers' costs for drilling wells for infrastructure connection from 50% to 80%.
Special attention is paid to training of personnel for the water sector. To this end, the Kazakh National University of Water Management and Irrigation was established in July this year. In the 2024-2025 academic year, 523 bachelor's degree students will be admitted to water specialities, which is 2 times more than in the previous academic year. More than 80 students - future specialists have undergone industrial practice in regional branches of RSE "Kazvodkhoz". The Bolashak programme includes specialities in the water industry. Also, Kazakhstani specialists undergo advanced training courses. For example, together with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, courses for 450 employees of RSE "Kazvodkhoz" have been started.
To improve groundwater monitoring and management, the National Hydrogeological Service ‘Kazhydrogeology’ was established in April this year. In order to forecast and model floods, the information system flood.gharysh.kz is being developed by the order of the President and is planned to be launched by the end of this year.
Within the framework of transformation of the country's water management system, RSE "Kazvodkhoz" was reorganised this year by merging with RSE "Nura Group Water Supply". Optimisation of non-core and unprofitable activities was started for the purpose of financial recovery of the enterprise. As of today, more than half of the 1440 units of available equipment require renewal. In this regard, the Government in June this year allocated 51.7 billion tenge for the purchase of 757 units of equipment.
It was noted that in order to prepare for the next growing season, the autumn-winter season, during which the filling of water reservoirs is carried out, is not insignificant.
The Head of State has set tasks on rational use of water resources and preservation of drinking water for future generations. The spring floods have shown the need to modernise the entire water industry. We have already started large-scale modernisation of water management facilities. Sustainable development of the agro-industrial complex directly depends on the efficiency of the water management system. Therefore, special attention should be paid to reimbursement of farmers' expenses for the introduction of water-saving technologies. The priority task is preparation for the next growing season. All activities should be carried out in time," Olzhas Bektenov emphasised.
It was instructed to transfer from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Water Resources the functions of subsidising the cost of water supply services to farmers and reimbursement of costs of investing in water-saving technologies by the end of this year to improve coordination.
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