"Central Asia needs regional and international cooperation to bolster water security"
By
Ariel Cohen, Wesley Alexander Hill, Wilder Alejandro Sánchez
Report
Atlantic Council
7 February 2025
Published: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/central-asia-needs-regional-and-international-cooperation-to-bolster-water-security/
Executive summary
Water security is an urgent issue that demands immediate attention
from Central Asian governments, businesses, civil society, and their
international partners. Climate change, population growth,
infrastructure problems, a lack of government foresight, and the unequal
distribution of precious water resources between the upstream countries
(Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and the downstream nations (Kazakhstan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) have created a “perfect storm” of pressing
water insecurity. The 2021 Central Asia drought, the loss of the Aral
Sea, the evaporation of glaciers in the Tian Shan mountains, and the
alarming shrinking of the Caspian Sea are reminders of how natural and
man-made disasters have destructive consequences on Central Asia’s
strained water resources.
This report addresses the status of water security across the five
Central Asian countries, outlining recent developments, ongoing
challenges, and opportunities for improvement. Geopolitically,
interstate tensions and the role of international politics—e.g.,
influence from the West, Russia, and China and tensions with
Afghanistan—all will continue to affect the region’s water security.
This report will address international cooperation in projects for water
sharing, including the current and future role of agencies like the
International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea and partners like the United
States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and
extraregional governments. The report concludes with a holistic set of
policy recommendations to help improve water security in Central Asia.
Event: "Report launch: Water insecurity in Central Asia"
7 February 2025
Atlantic Council
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/report-launch-water-insecurity-in-central-asia/
