On August 7, the 94th meeting of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan was held in Turkestan. The meeting was organized by the Kazakh side and chaired by Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation N.M. Nurzhigitov.

The meeting was attended by members of the ICWC: from Tajikistan, the Minister of Energy and Water Resources D. Juma, from Turkmenistan – the Chairman of the State Committee for Water Management D.M. Gendzhiev, from Uzbekistan – the Minister of Water Management Sh.R. Khamraev.

Also participating were the heads of executive bodies: BVO Amu Darya M.Ya. Makhramov, BVO Syr Darya O.A. Kholkhuzhaev, SIC ICWC D.R. Ziganshina, Secretariat U.A. Nazarov, and invited persons.

The following issues were included in the meeting agenda:

• On the progress of using limits and operating modes of reservoirs for the 2026 growing season in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya river basins;
• On the development of a draft Work Plan for the implementation of an automated water resources accounting system in the Syr Darya River basin.
• On the consideration of issues of the grant “Project for Regional Cooperation of Central Asian Countries to Improve the Efficiency of Water Resources Use” (CAWEC).
• On the progress of work carried out to implement the tasks arising from the summits of the Heads of State – founders of IFAS.
• On the agenda and venue of the 95th meeting of the ICWC.

One of the main issues on the agenda was the implementation of water intake limits and compliance with reservoir operating regimes in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya river basins during the 2026 growing season. Participants reviewed the current situation in the basins of the region’s two largest transboundary rivers and exchanged information on the implementation of agreed water use parameters and reservoir operating regimes.

Particular attention was paid to the digitalization of water resource accounting in the Syr Darya River basin. Commission members discussed the development of a draft Work Plan for the implementation of an automated water resource accounting system. Implementation of this plan is intended to improve the water resource monitoring and accounting system, increase the efficiency of data collection, and improve information exchange between the basin countries.

The meeting also addressed the implementation of the Central Asian Regional Cooperation for Water Efficiency (CAWEC) grant project. The parties discussed key areas of collaboration within the project and issues related to its future implementation.

A separate agenda item was the progress of implementing the tasks arising from the decisions of the summits of the Heads of State – founders of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS). Participants exchanged information on ongoing work and discussed current areas of activity aimed at implementing the agreements reached at the highest level.

The discussion of the agenda items confirmed the importance of further coordinating the actions of Central Asian states in the area of ​​transboundary water resource management, improving mechanisms for exchanging water management information, and implementing modern digital tools for water resource accounting and monitoring.

At the end of the meeting, the participants reviewed the preliminary agenda for the 95th meeting of the ICWC, which will be held in Turkmenistan.

After discussions by the parties on all issues, agreed decisions were made and a protocol was signed.

Google machine translated