Over the past few years independent media outlets have regularly reported that Ashgabat and Turkmenistan’s provinces were experiencing a shortage of drinking and irrigation water.However, it was not until the summer of 2022 that the authorities acknowledged this wide-spread problem, which is especially relevant in a country where the temperature can get as high as 50 degrees Celsius.
2021 was one of the driest years for Turkmenistan.Because of the extreme drought there were regular water outages in Ashgabat in the summer with water trucks making deliveries to neighbourhoods.
The drought also resulted in the poor wheat yield in Central Asian countries.However, this did not prevent the Turkmen authorities from announcing that the wheat harvest target had been achieved.
It all started at the Cabinet session on 6 May when newly-elected President Serdar Berdymukhammedov ordered Esenmyrat Orazgeldiev, at that time Deputy Prime Minister overseeing agriculture, to inspect the provinces and analyze the irrigation of crop fields, the condition of rivers and canals, as well as to address the issue of their cleaning and to introduce water conservation technologies.
It is noteworthy that former President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov had repeatedly given similar instructions since 2017.
At the meeting held on 10 May Orazgeldiev gave a progress report on his working trips.The news agency did not provide any details but in response the President instructed that Orazgeldiev address the issue of land reclamation in Dashoguz velayat.
According to “Meteojournal”, the region has been suffering from a shortage of water for three consecutive years.
On 25 May the head of state personally visited the region to hold the Cabinet session where Esenmyrat Orazgeldiev gave his report. For instance, some estimates were made regarding water supply, improvement of reclamation conditions of farm land and setting up of water reserves.
Nevertheless, Serdar Berdymukhammedov issued a severe reprimand to Chairperson of the State Water Management Committee Guizgeldi Baidzhanov for “improper execution of work-related responsibilities, the weakening of control over measures committed to improving water supply, ensuring efficient water use and creating additional water reserves”.
After the meeting the President made a helicopter inspection of the condition of irrigation systems on the fields of the region.At that time TDH again reported that measures to improve the water supply of Dashoguz velayat were being undertaken.
For instance, preparations were underway to build a large artificial water reservoir in the valley between the Shasenem and Turkmen canals, originating from the Dueboyun water basin.The Shasenem bed is covered with concrete.
This was the first reference of the future water reservoir.
However, at the Cabinet session on 4 June Orazgeldiev, who had twice been appointed as Deputy Prime Minister overseeing agriculture in 2015 and 2017 was dismissed for “shortcomings at work”.
Among the reasons behind the dismissal Serdar Berdymukhammedov emphasized poor land reclamation, soil salinization and poorly cleaned drainage canals.As a result of these problems in Dashoguz velayat, cotton was not sown on time.
We will find out in the autumn whether this will prevent the local authorities from giving a progress report on the cotton harvest.
A few days later, on 8 June, the President had a face-to-face meeting with Annageldi Yazmyradov, the newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister overseeing agriculture, to discuss water supply in Turkmenistan.
He reported that measures had been undertaken to remedy water supply shortcomings in Dashoguz region.
The head of state gave him important instructions as follows: to inspect the river beds from the Amu Darya to the Karakum canal, to identify and eliminate reasons preventing the water flow as well as to review the possibility of constructing desalination and water supply plants from Ashgabat to the Caspian Sea.
The news on the desalination of water from the Caspian Sea was covered by all media outlets.A major Russian news agency TASS, with reference to the UN, reported that the volume of water used by Turkmenistan, accounts for 144% of its water reserves and the shortage of fresh water does not allow сconverting new land plots for agricultural use with farmland occupying only 11,5% of the country’s territory.
As a result of these meetings Turkmenistan’s Governmental Water Supply Commission was set up on 11 June, which is obliged to report on its performance at every Cabinet session.
A month later, on 7 July, the Ministry of Construction and Architecture announced an international tender for the construction of the new section of the Shasenem irrigation channel, which is 100,2 km long and a water reservoir with the capacity of 90 million cubic meters.
Applications will be accepted until 19 August.The tender was also announced for selecting the consulting agency which will provide counseling and technical oversight of the design and construction of the new section of the irrigation channel and the water reservoir.
Following TDH newspapers also reported on water supply to residents and farmland.On 16 July the newspaper “Neitralny Turkmenistan” published two articles devoted to water supply.
In the first one, entitled “Upgrading the old hydraulic structure in Turkmenistan” the problem of silting of water reservoirs in the Karakum river system was mentioned (“Chronicles of Turkmenistan” reported on the problems a few years ago).
According to water management specialists, water reservoirs can be сleaned by dredging, which is “challenging and expensive” or water reservoirs can be built in new locations, which is “tenfold cheaper”.
The newspaper gives an example of Zeyidi water reservoir with the capacity of 2.3 bcm.When it was silted up in 2015, a new reservoir with a capacity of 1.2 million cubic meters was built”.
The second water reservoir with the capacity of 1.6 million cubic meters is scheduled to be built at the same location in 2028 and the third one with the total capacity of 3.8 million cubic meters is being designed.
A total of 16 water reservoirs with the overall capacity of 3.5 bcm are currently operating in Turkmenistan, according to the newspaper.
The second article “The irrigation of farmland” recalls that a year ago the Bereket water reservoir in the same-name etrap in Balkan velayat was commissioned. It is located at the end of the mouth of the Karakum river.
“In the downstream this water artery represents flowing water, which was not used in the winter and was wasted”.Now the water is accumulated in the water storage tank with a capacity of 18 million cubic meters”, – the newspaper reported adding that the surplus of water accumulated in the off-season time was used to irrigate farmland in Turkmenistan’s western area.
Correspondents of “Chronicles of Turkmenistan report that equipment and machinery from all Turkmen provinces will be deployed for the construction of the Dashoguz water reservoir.
Despite the fact that the tender will be completed only in late August, Caterpillar bulldozers and dredgers as well as maintenance staff are being sent to the construction site. For example, four people from Turkmen railways have already been sent on assignment. They will be working on a two-week rotation basis.
However, experts from “Meteojournal” are convinced that the new water reservoir “will not be of strategic importance for the region”.According to the news outlet, in certain periods the region receives only 30-40% of the water volume, to which it is entitled according to the previously established limits. 90 million cubic meters will not solve the problem because in mid June 2022 the shortage of water across the region from the water intake limit was 130 million cubic meters”, – the article says.
“Meteojournal” has calculated that over the past 13 years (from 2009 to 2021) the water consumption in the region during the vegetation period (from 1 April to 1 October) was about 4100 million cubic meters.
Hence, the volume of the new water reservoir will account for only 2,2% of consumed water resources for six months only if it is filled until the projected volume.
In other words, the new water reservoir will be significant only for the etrap (district) at best but not for the entire region. It will be able to improve the irrigation of 5-10 thousand hectares of farmland while cotton fields occupy about 150 thousand hectares in Dashoguz region.
“It can be said that when addressing the water shortage problem Turkmenistan has reached the first stage acknowledging the problem.The authorities raise this issue; various events are being held; collaboration with foreign partners is being carried out and Central Asia countries are cooperating in water intake allocation.
The second step is practical implementation.To some extent this can be seen even today, but given the scale of the problem it is quite insignificant”, – the media outlet concludes.The post The first step is acknowledging the problem.
Turkmenistan is concerned over the shortage of water first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.