DUSHANBE, April 24, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan intends to increase the use of water resources of Central Asia’s region, Deputy Land Reclamation and Water Resources Minister, Homidjon Hasanov, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on April 23.
According to him, Tajikistan currently use for agricultural needs 7 percent of the region’s water resources per year, which is nearly 11.4 million cubic kilometers of water. “In future, to develop new irrigation lands the country intends to increase the use of water resources to 14 percent,” said the deputy minister, “The ongoing meeting of Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) in the Kazakh city of Almaty is also considering issues related to distribution of water resources between Central Asia’s states.”
Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) in Central Asia was established under an agreement on water resources use in the Amudarya and Syrdarya basins singed by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in February 1992. The agreement was based on a statement adopted by the heads of water authorities of five Central Asian countries in October 1991. The main objectives of ICWC are to coordinate the management, rational use and protection of cross-borer river water resources in the region, and develop a long-term strategy of water resources management taking into account the changes in socio-economic situation in the countries.
Uktam Murtazoyev, the acting director of the Tajik branch of the ICWC scientific-informational center, said allegations of Uzbek experts that Tajik energy projects may cause widespread environmental damage to agricultural lands in the lower reaches of the Amudarya Rivers are “absolutely unfounded.”
“Reservoirs that will be built in Tajikistan will be of great importance for Uzbekistan as well, because water passing though reservoirs becomes clear of pesticides,” Murtazoyev said.
Besides, Tajikistan will offer countries of the lower reaches of the Amudarya River that will participate in the construction of power plants on the Vakhsh, Zarafshon and Kofarnihon rivers in the country electricity at lower prices, according to him.
According to the Ministry of land Reclamation and Water Resources (MoLRWR), The Amudarya River s the longest river in Central Asia. It is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers in Tajikistan. The river is navigable for over 1,450 kilometers. Its total length is 2,540 kilometers and its drainage basin totals 534,739 square meters in area, providing a mean discharge of around 55 cubic kilometers of water per year, all of which comes from the high mountains in the south where annual precipitation can be over 1000 mm.
