By Abbas Nazil
Kazakhstan has become the first country in Central Asia to implement sweeping legal reforms aimed at addressing the region’s deepening water crisis.
On April 9, 2025, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a new Water Code and three supporting legal acts into law, marking the first time that the concept of “water security” has been legally defined in Kazakhstan.
This significant legislative move reflects a comprehensive national strategy designed to protect the population and economy from growing water scarcity, pollution, and transboundary disputes.
The new laws tighten state oversight of water use and aim to curb inefficiency and abuse, including theft and black-market trading of water.
Kazakhstan’s urgency is driven by stark geographic and environmental realities: only 2.8 percent of its land is covered by water, while two-thirds of the country is arid and heavily dependent on water inflows from neighboring states.
Less than 15 percent of irrigated farmland uses modern water-saving technology, making the country’s agriculture — which consumes 60 percent of national water resources — particularly vulnerable.
In some regions, satellite monitoring reveals up to 80 percent of water is lost due to theft or illegal diversions.
During parliamentary discussions, MP Pavel Kazantsev described such losses as “sabotage of the national interest.”
To tackle this growing threat, Kazakhstan established the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in 2023, a move that has proven prescient amid mounting concerns over regional water security.
From October 2024 to April 2025, Kazakhstan’s Shardara Reservoir received 12.6 billion cubic meters of water from Uzbekistan — 1.7 billion more than expected — highlighting the urgent need for coordinated management of shared water resources.
At a recent climate forum during the Central Asia–EU Summit, regional leaders echoed these concerns, stressing the need for cooperation and technology to secure the region’s water future.
Kazakhstan has joined the One Water Vision coalition to promote integrated water resource management and has launched a major initiative with the Islamic Development Bank to build four new reservoirs, repair 115 canals, and rehabilitate existing infrastructure. A grant will also fund research to support evidence-based water policy.
The crisis is more than a development issue — it poses a growing national security threat. Aidos Sarym, a senior Kazakh lawmaker, warned in 2024 that future regional conflicts may arise not from territorial ambitions, but from competition over water.
With over 37 million Central Asians already living in water-scarce areas, the urgency for action is undeniable. Kazakhstan’s bold steps offer a roadmap for regional collaboration.
The challenge now is for neighboring countries to follow suit — before the situation becomes irreversible.