SHYMKENT – A newly completed inventory of reservoirs and canals in southern Kazakhstan is helping authorities recalculate water facilities, assess their status and identify dams that badly need reconstruction and overhauling. It will also give each district an idea of its new potential for irrigated agriculture.
Regional authorities are planning to use all their available land resources to provide local residents with work and stable incomes, which means making the most efficient use of their reservoirs and canals. Mukhit Otarshiev, head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control of South Kazakhstan, said that there are 911 canals currently registered in the oblast.
Over the past three years, the region has repaired 393 canals, 205 discharges and 123 vertical drainage wells. The reconstruction of these waterways has allowed more than 103 hectares of unused land plots to be reclaimed and provided with sources of irrigation.
Having completed the inventory, the next step will be drawing up a detailed plan, including specified deadlines, for restoring water facilities. The inventory also helped identify illegally constructed agricultural premises and commercial facilities. Constructions like these hamper the repair and cleaning of canals and will need to be demolished.
The Ramadan canal in the Saryagash area is slated for reconstruction next year.
The environmental department is concerned about the technical condition of another seven reservoirs. Almost all of them are privately owned, and their owners do not consider it necessary to spend money on the maintenance of their water bodies.
