Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Digitize Cross-Border Water Records

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have agreed to establish a Joint Kazakh-Uzbek Commission on Water Relations and expand the digitalization of cross-border water accounting, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said.

The agreements were reached on 8 August in Turkistan at the 14th meeting of the Joint Working Group on developing proposals to deepen bilateral cooperation in water relations.

The working group was headed by Kazakhstan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurgzhigitov and Uzbekistan’s Minister of Water Resources Shavkat Khamrayev. Kazakhstan’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Uzbekistan Yeraly Tugzhanov also attended the meeting.

The sides discussed implementation of the agreement between the governments of the two countries on the joint management and rational use of cross-border water facilities. The Kazakh and Uzbek sides positively assessed the ratification of the agreement and reviewed a draft regulation on the Joint Kazakh-Uzbek Commission.

The commission is expected to become a permanent mechanism for implementing the agreement on the joint management and rational use of cross-border water facilities.

The participants also focused on the digitalization of water management. The sides positively assessed progress on a project to automate hydrological stations in the Syr Darya basin and agreed to expand the system.

Under the project, with support from international financial institutions, 10 hydrological stations at major cross-border water divisions are planned to be automated, with five located in each country. The system is expected to ensure transparent water accounting, online data transmission and the creation of a unified database for information exchange.

Following the meeting, the sides agreed to hold the 15th meeting of the Joint Working Group in Uzbekistan.

Nurzhan Nurgzhigitov said the bilateral cooperation format allows specific water management issues to be addressed promptly.

According to him, ratification of the agreement by both countries creates a new legal framework for further cooperation.