Water remains one of the greatest challenges for Central Asian nations due to the lack of cooperation and regional dialogue on resource management between the upstream and downstream countries.
It is forecasted that due to the melting of mountain glaciers, the river runoff in the Amu Darya river basin will be reduced by 30 percent, compared with the average annual runoff over the past 10 years.
Kyrgyzstan’s ambitions to control the flow of its rivers in order to generate more hydroelectric power are of particular concern to Uzbekistan as it relies on rivers that originate or pass through Kyrgyzstan and its mountainous neighbor, Tajikistan, to irrigate its cotton fields.
The Kambarata project is only the first of several projects planned along the Naryn River, which rises in the Tien Shan Mountains and is dammed at Toktogul, the largest reservoir in Kyrgyzstan, before running on to merge with another river to become the Syr Darya.
By implementing the project, Tajikistan will be able to generate about 13 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.
The Rogun HPP construction project was developed during the Soviet era.
Both sides stressed that one of the key factors of the Central Asia’s well-being is the integrated use of water and energy resources, taking into account the interests of all the states of the region.