In the system of water use and water consumption, intra-economic and inter-state water relations, the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Water," adopted on January 14, 1994, with some amendments and additions made in 1995, has been approved and is in effect. Its main feature is that it established the payment for natural resource use rights, as well as for water supply services and for discharges of pollutants into water bodies and water management structures, within the established limits.
As a rule, a sharp change in the entire system — political, economic, and social activities of any state, breaking its production and economic ties, a certain unpreparedness for activities in completely new conditions, leads to significant difficulties, accompanied by a decline in production, financial hunger, and other negative phenomena. It is these objective reasons that have led to the fact that the water management sector, like most other sectors of the economy, operated in very difficult conditions during the first years of the transition period. Many water management structures, due to wear and lack of funds and resources, were functioning in a pre-emergency mode, requiring special efforts from the thousands of specialists, managers, and workers. Despite all the costs of water management production, these efforts, state assistance, and foreign investments allowed avoiding accidents in the operation of dams, reservoirs, pumping stations, and other structures, machines, mechanisms, and equipment. The efforts of all levels of government have only in recent years allowed stabilizing the situation in most water-consuming industries and departments, ensuring a calculable level of water use and consumption based on modern standards of the entire system of intra-state and inter-state water relations, the economy of the state, and the well-being of the population.
State Water Fund (SWF). The SWF includes: glaciers, rivers, lakes, artesian basins and the water resources concentrated in them; all protective forests, regulation and riverbank protection dams, reservoirs, structures and devices, as well as a system of balance snow and water measuring stations and posts, communication means, and early warning systems. The SWF is an invaluable gift of nature, one of the main foundations of the economy and social policy of the Kyrgyz Republic. Of the total volume of water resources, the most valuable are the reserves and annually renewable resources of surface runoff from rivers and underground waters of artesian basins. The area of modern glaciation occupies 4% of the territory of Kyrgyzstan and fluctuates between 750,000 and 800,000 hectares or 7,500 to 8,000 square kilometers, including in the basins of Sary-Jaz, Kakshaala — 3.5 square kilometers; Naryn, Kara-Darya, and other sources of Syr-Darya — 2.4 square kilometers; Chuy, Talas, and Issyk-Kul — 1.5 square kilometers. 87% of the territory is occupied by the area of river runoff formation, the volume of which in an average water year exceeds 47 billion tons. The volume of annually renewable resources of underground waters of the main artesian basins fluctuates around 250 m²/second or 7.7 billion m³.
Surface runoff from rivers and underground water resources are the main and only source providing all irrigated agriculture, hydropower, municipal and drinking water supply, food and processing industries, fisheries, and other water-consuming sectors of the economy. In order to more rationally use surface water resources, primarily for the needs of irrigated agriculture and hydropower, river runoff is regulated by a system of riverbed and reservoir storage. The largest of the reservoirs are: Toktogul on the Naryn River, with a capacity of 19.5 billion m³; Kirov on the Talas River — 570 million m³; Orto-Tokoy on the Chuy River — 470 million m³; Papanskoye on the Ak-Buura River — 260 million m³, and others. A significant (up to 80%) part of the runoff from surface water sources crosses state borders and is used by neighboring countries.
Being in the zone of formation of mountain river runoff, Kyrgyzstan consumes only one-fifth of it, constantly experiencing serious difficulties in protecting against their harmful effects on the lands and populations of coastal areas, in the form of floods, landslides, erosion of banks, and the destruction of lands and buildings, which also requires special attention and significant costs. For many decades, in the interests of improving the welfare of the people and considering population growth, significant funds have been invested in the development of agriculture; in irrigated agriculture through the radical reconstruction and technical improvement of previously existing primitive channels and devices, as well as the construction of new modern irrigation systems and structures, ensuring their maintenance and operation at their own expense.
On the balance of water management organizations of the Basin Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources, and Processing Industry are structures located on SWF facilities and water management structures related to the use of water resources, mainly for the needs of irrigated agriculture. These include 632 irrigation systems that provide water supply to 1,066,000 hectares of irrigated land. Engineering systems serve 430,000 hectares of irrigated land. They have engineering water intake structures on rivers that ensure sediment control, capable of passing instantaneous flood water discharges and providing guaranteed water intakes from irrigation sources; engineering-type channels with anti-filtration lining, mainly made of precast or monolithic concrete and reinforced concrete. Semi-engineering systems serve 368,000 hectares, have engineering water intake structures, channels that are partially lined and partially equipped with water distribution structures. Non-engineering systems do not have engineering water intake structures, and the channels are practically not equipped with water distribution structures and do not have anti-filtration linings, irrigating 222,500 hectares.
The total length of main and distribution channels is 6,200 kilometers, on which a large number of water-regulating structures, hydrometric posts, and sediment protection structures are located. The Department of Water Management operates 62 pumping stations, with an irrigated area of 51,700 hectares. There are 34 irrigation reservoirs in operation and about 400 daily and decadal regulation basins, with a total volume of about 2 billion m³. To drain excess groundwater from irrigated lands, covering an area of 149,400 hectares, there are 636 kilometers of inter-farm (state) collectors and 4,800 kilometers of internal drainage networks, including 3,100 kilometers of open and 2,300 kilometers of closed type. Difficulties, especially in the first half of the previous transition period, led the entire system of SWF structures into an unsatisfactory state. The most significant and complex in ensuring technical operation, reliability, and safety are large reservoirs, most of which, according to international standards, belong to the 4th highest and 3rd categories of danger. Urgent repair and restoration work was required, including the replacement of gates, electromechanical equipment, control and measuring instruments, automation means, and strengthening of dams and spillways.
Orto-Tokoy Reservoir. Built in 1957. Regulates the flow of the Chuy River and is the main source of irrigation for 180,000 hectares of land in the Chuy region and 40,000 hectares of land in the Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan. The condition of the hydraulic structures of the reservoir is unsatisfactory. Repair of the conical gate building is needed, along with the replacement of all hydromechanical equipment. The backup catastrophic discharge is out of order, and in some places, the lining of the tunnel discharge is damaged; replacement of control and measuring instruments, communication means, and public warning systems is necessary. For safety reasons, up to 40 million m³ of water is not filled and not used annually. In this regard, rehabilitation work on the reservoir has begun as part of the "Irrigation Systems Rehabilitation" project with the support of the World Bank.
Papan Reservoir. Built in 1981. Provides irrigation for 37,000 hectares of land in the Osh region and 8,000 hectares in Uzbekistan. It is the most complex in technical operation. Constant monitoring and inspections have revealed increased water filtration, leading to a decrease in its stability. Vibration is observed at the outlet head of the discharge. Additional studies on the seismic stability of the dam are underway. In 1944 and 1999, decisions were made to reduce the filling of the reservoir by 60-80 million m³. The facility is included in the "Irrigation Systems Rehabilitation" project, and pre-project work is currently underway.
Kirov Reservoir. Built in 1975. It has a unique concrete, buttress dam, 84 meters high, and allows for the irrigation of 105,000 hectares of land in the Talas region and about 60,000 hectares in Kazakhstan. According to international experts, the dam is reliable and stable. Overall, due to restrictions on the filling of the reservoir and due to its unsatisfactory technical condition, about 300 million m³ of water is underutilized annually.
Irrigation Canals. The irrigation systems have 675 inter-farm canals, with a length of 6,200 kilometers, including 2,500 kilometers in concrete and reinforced concrete lining. As a result of prolonged operation and lack of proper technical maintenance due to lack of funds, 1,400 kilometers of canals require major repairs and cleaning. The total design capacity of all canals is 2,528 m³/second, while the actual capacity, due to siltation and destruction of the lining, can only pass 2,067 m³/second, or 467 m³/second less. Their efficiency has decreased from 0.82 to 0.76 compared to 1990, resulting in losses from filtration and non-productive discharges increasing by 600 million m³. Due to the reduction in the capacity of the canals, less water has been supplied to the irrigation fields — up to 1 billion m³ of water, which could provide one irrigation for 800,000 hectares. According to specialists, due to under-irrigation of irrigated lands due to the unsatisfactory technical condition of inter-farm canals, losses amount to up to 20% of crop production.
Pumping Stations. The number of pumping stations is 61, with an irrigated area of 51,700 hectares. Their annual electricity consumption is 190 million kWh. All pumping stations have operated for 25-30 years, and more than 30% of the pumping station units and electric motors require replacement or major repairs. With a total design capacity of pumping stations at 119.6 m³/second, their actual productivity has decreased to 100 m³ and continues to decrease annually. Most of these pumping stations are the only source of irrigation and meeting domestic needs for entire settlements, and sometimes several at once.
Wells for Irrigation and Vertical Drainage. Their number is 108. They were drilled in 1972-80 to increase water supply and improve the reclamation condition of irrigated lands over an area of 13,300 hectares, most of which are out of order. To restore the wells, re-drilling, replacement of filters, casing pipes, deep pumps, and partial restoration of transformer substations are required.
Inter-farm Collectors. There are collectors with a length of 636 kilometers, providing drainage of wastewater from an area of 21,600 hectares of irrigated land. The collectors have not been cleaned in the required volumes, resulting in a continued deterioration of the reclamation situation, rising groundwater levels, and increasing soil salinity, which significantly reduces the yield of agricultural crops.
Overall, in the area of maintenance and use of the existing irrigation fund, the volume of funding has decreased and has not been ensured from year to year.
Condition and Use of Intra-farm Irrigation Fund. The total length of this type of irrigation network is 19,200 kilometers, including 4,900 kilometers in concrete and reinforced concrete lining, of which 3,500 kilometers have a channel network. These channels were built for irrigating crop rotation areas of 500-800 hectares, each with an irrigated field of 40-60 hectares. Each irrigated field had one permanent channel, from which irrigation was carried out through temporary irrigators. When irrigated lands were transferred to the use of farms and peasant households with plots of 2-10 hectares, even the smallest permanent intra-farm channel, for the construction of which huge funds were spent, began to serve only a few small plots of land. Most channels, passing in earthen beds (more than 14,000 kilometers), are silted and do not pass the required water discharges. Channel systems have already served for 15-25 years (the normative period is 25 years), and mass destruction has begun. Due to the unsatisfactory technical condition of irrigation systems, the efficiency coefficient has decreased from 0.65 to 0.56, resulting in losses from filtration and non-productive discharges of over 700 million m³ of water annually, which could irrigate more than 500,000 hectares of land with one irrigation.
Pumping Stations. On the balance of former collective farms and state farms, there were 182 electrified pumping stations for irrigating 21,300 hectares of land. Due to the long service life, lack of proper technical maintenance, and unqualified operation, 104 pumping stations are out of order. Almost all pumping stations require repair or replacement of expensive pumping and power equipment — electric motors, cable equipment, transformer substations, and pressure pipelines. The cost of water supply by pumping stations, depending on the lift height, reaches 50-70 tyiyns per 1 m³, while gravity-fed systems cost 10-15 tyiyns.
Irrigation Wells. Until 1990, 1,300 wells were used for irrigation, of which 708 are out of order. A significant part of the power lines and transformer substations have been disassembled. Their restoration requires detailed technical and economic justifications based on the capabilities of farms and peasant households.
Collector-Drainage Network. Collector-drainage systems drain excess groundwater from an irrigated area of 149,400 hectares. Their length is 4,800 kilometers, including 2,500 kilometers open and 2,300 kilometers closed, which are mainly in unsatisfactory condition, resulting in rising groundwater levels and increasing soil salinity annually. To restore order, it is necessary to clean 1,068 kilometers and flush 416 kilometers of the collector-drainage network. The fragmentation of water-using farms has led to an increase in their number by more than 100 times. At the same time, a significant part of the intra-farm channels and structures of former large collective and state farms has become inter-farm. They were previously maintained in unsatisfactory condition and are now falling into disrepair. The area of reclamation-unfavorable lands with unacceptable groundwater levels and salinity has increased from 78,600 hectares to 90,300 hectares, which has affected the reduction of gross harvests and yields of agricultural crops.
As a result of a thorough analysis of the state of one of the main foundational sectors of the economy and social policy of the state, and the beginning process of overall stabilization of production and production relations, a number of major measures for the restoration and development of water management have been developed.
With the help of loans from the World Bank and the Japanese government, earth-moving equipment, spare parts, and equipment for pumping stations have been acquired. The project "Rehabilitation of Irrigation Systems," implemented with the support of the World Bank, is successfully being carried out, restoring 12 of the largest reservoirs and about 50 irrigation systems equipped with technology, measuring, and communication means. Work has been completed on 7 irrigation systems with an influence zone of 94,400 hectares of irrigated land. Rehabilitation work on the Orto-Tokoy Reservoir is underway, and project work on the rehabilitation of the Kirov and Papan reservoirs has been completed. Work is ongoing to implement the World Bank project "Intra-farm Irrigation." The significance of the state's efforts to increase budgetary, extra-budgetary, and foreign investment in the water management sector is shown in the table below (in millions of soms):
Kyrgyzstan has become a sovereign state. The old priorities no longer apply, but the damages from the past and present have yet to be compensated by anyone. The Kyrgyz Republic now faces other problems, other priorities regulated by legislation. New relationships regarding water use have begun to be established between the states of Central Asia.
