Drinking Water and Glaciers
Water resources are vital for the economy, humans, and the environment; they are the most important natural potential influencing the development of the region's economy. Among the natural resources of Kyrgyzstan, fresh water found in glaciers occupies a significant place. Its reserves are estimated at 650 billion m³. Glaciers cover 4.2% of the country's territory. This is where the sources of the Syr Darya basin and other major rivers of Central Asia are located.
Water is one of the most valuable resources in Central Asia. Meanwhile, about 70% of the region's output comes from agriculture, which is unproductive in arid climate conditions without water. In 2003, irrigated agriculture accounted for 39% in Kyrgyzstan.
In terms of local river flow availability per capita per year, Kyrgyzstan far exceeds other countries in the region. Kyrgyzstan is the only country in Central Asia whose water resources are almost entirely formed within its own territory, which is its hydrological feature and advantage, and this is one of its main riches. The country has about 30,000 rivers and streams, including about 20,000 that are longer than 10 km. On average, about 49 km² of water flows from the mountains to the valleys each year, but only 25% of this amount is used by the republic. Most of them are so clean that they can be used for the needs of the population without treatment or with minimal treatment. Rivers are mainly polluted by livestock waste.
The major rivers—Chu, Naryn, and Talas—originate in the high mountains. The Chu flows in the north, along which the border between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan runs for 145 km. The Naryn, merging with the Karadarya River, forms the Syr Darya, which flows east into the Fergana Valley. The Talas drains northeastern Kyrgyzstan. There are about 2,000 lakes in the Kyrgyz Republic. Most of them are small and located in the mid-mountain and high-altitude zones.
Being in the zone of mountain river flow formation, Kyrgyzstan consumes only one-fifth of it and constantly faces serious challenges in protecting against the harmful effects of rivers on land and population (floods, landslides, bank erosion, land and building washouts).
The Kyrgyz Republic, occupying almost the entire western half of the powerful intra-continental mountain system of the Tien Shan and partially the Pamir-Alai ridges, has well-developed glaciation. Glaciers are one of the natural riches of the republic. According to the cataloging data carried out under the MGD program (1965-1974), there are 7,628 glaciers in Kyrgyzstan, covering an area of 8,107 km².
By type of feeding, most rivers are of glacial-snow and snow-glacial origin, indicating the significant role of glaciers and seasonal precipitation accumulated in the mountains during the cold period. Rainwater plays a minor role in the overall volume of river feeding, but its significance increases and dominates in the case of rain floods, which often have a mudflow, destructive nature.
A significant part of the territory of the republic (more than 20%) is in the zone of eternal snows and glaciers, unsuitable for life but in need of strategic protection, as global anthropogenic temperature increases are increasingly affecting the regime of river flow formation and reducing the area of glaciation. A sharp increase in summer water flow due to climate warming, which has led to active glacier melting, has been observed in almost all rivers of Kyrgyzstan with glacial-snow and snow-glacial feeding since 1972. The trend of climate warming may lead in the near future to such a reduction in glaciation that there will be a sharp decrease in summer water flow in the rivers.
In the mid-20th century, glaciers covered 4% of the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. However, over the past 30 years, their volume has decreased by 25-30%, and their area by 40%. The reasons are global warming and the drying of the Aral Sea. Moreover, the active melting of glaciers is not just a reduction in fresh water reserves for Central Asia, but also the formation of glacial lakes and, consequently, the growing threat of destructive mudflows, which have already caused significant human casualties, land degradation, and material losses.
Drinking water is mainly supplied from underground water sources, but there are already preconditions for its quality deterioration. The infiltration of toxic materials from existing and old extraction sites poses a threat to water resources. Additionally, households, enterprises, and the agricultural sector irrationally consume water resources, and leaks from municipal landfills contaminate resources.
In the system of water use and consumption, as well as intra-farm and inter-state water relations, the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Water," adopted on January 14, 1994, has been established and is in effect. Its main feature is that it established the payment for the rights of natural resource use, as well as for water supply services and fines for discharges of pollutants into water bodies and water management facilities.
The reduction of vegetation cover in watersheds due to tree uprooting and cultivation of unsuitable lands leads to soil erosion and siltation of the water distribution system, which also affects water quality.
Water quality is not regulated as it should be, and the state system for monitoring water pollution is ineffective.
