REGULAR 67TH MEETING OF THE INTERSTATE COMMISSION FOR WATER COORDINATION
The regular 67th meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia was held under the chairmanship of the First Deputy Director General of the Department for Water Resources and Land Reclamation, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation on the 17th of September 2015 in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyz Republic.
The following issues were brought to the agenda:
1. Fulfillment of water withdrawals quotas and operation regimes of the reservoir cascades in the Amudarya and Syrdarya River Basins over the growing season 2015 and the forecast for the non-growing season 2015-2016.
2. Presentation and discussion of the proposals and comments received in the course of interdepartmental approval at the national level of the draft Agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan on the Information and Analytical Support of Water Management, Use, and Protection in the Aral Sea Basin and the Arrangement of Interstate Exchange of Information.
3. Consideration of the GIZ Project Concept “Promoting enhancement of regional water cooperation in Central Asia by building capacities of BWO Amudarya, BWO Syrdarya and their divisions”.
4. Agenda and venue of the next 68th ICWC meeting.
Relevant decisions were made on all the above issues.
Proceedings of the meeting will be published in the next ICWC Bulletin, which is planned for the fourth quarter 2015.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “CHU-TALAS: 15 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL WATER COOPERATION BETWEEN KYRGYZSTAN AND KAZAKHSTAN”
The two-day international conference dedicated to 15 years since the date of signature of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic on the Use of Water Management Facilities of Intergovernmental Status on the Rivers Chu and Talas started its work in Chok-Tal village, Issyk-Kul province on the 16th of September 2015.
This Agreement was signed by the Governments of the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan in January 2000 and later ratified by national Parliaments in order to ensure mutually beneficial cooperation on the use of water management facilities of intergovernmental status on the rivers Chu and Talas.
Mr. Tilek Isabekov, Co-chair of the Chu-Talas Water Commission from Kyrgyz party, First Deputy Director General of the Department for Water Resources and Land Reclamation, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation in his welcome speech underlined the importance of given Agreement for development of bilateral cooperation for reliable water supply in the two transboundary river basins.
“Fulfillment of given Agreement makes valuable contribution to peaceful and sustainable development in our countries and in the Central Asian region, as a whole”, he said.
Co-chair of the Commission from Kazakh party Mr. Yerlan Nysanbayev, Vice-Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan also emphasized the significance of efforts undertaken within the framework of this Agreement, including the development of principles governing joint water management based on the interests of each state.
He particularly said that the Chu-Talas Water Commission was one of successful organizations established in Central Asia. He also added that the Commission acted as a real platform for enhanced cooperation between the two water agencies.
The Conference brought up about 100 participants, including representatives of the national ministries and agencies from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea, the international organizations such as UNECE, OSCE, GIZ, SDC, as well as individual water professionals.
In parallel, the following events were organized: the 67th session of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia (17-18 September), 20th meeting of the Chu-Talas Commission (18 September), and a meeting of experts for environmental monitoring along the Chu and Talas.
Generally, the conference reporters spoke about implementation of the Agreement, lessons learnt from operation of the Chu-Talas Commission, and the outlook for future progress of the Agreement and the Commission.
Based on materials of: Press-service of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation
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