Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation is implementing the North Aral Sea and Irrigation Systems Modernization project in the Turkistan and Kyzylorda regions. The first phase includes 131 projects.
The plans include reconstructing the Kokaral Dam, restoring 2,200 km of canals and automating 1,400 km of irrigation systems.
The work aims to improve the environmental condition of the Aral Sea region by increasing and stabilizing water resources in the northern part of the Aral Sea.
Vice Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Zhandos Salimov spoke about progress on water infrastructure development assignments at the Central Communications Service. In 2024-2025, 190 canals with a combined length of more than 1,400 km, five reservoirs, eight hydraulic structures and 22 drinking water facilities were reconstructed. The work covered 321 settlements and more than 945,000 people.
Work is under way on more than 4,600 km of canals. In 2026, 962 km are scheduled for repair, which is expected to improve water supply to about 200,000 hectares of irrigated land. The goal is to reduce water losses in canals from 50% to 25% by 2030.
This year, 12 projects to build and reconstruct drinking water facilities are due to be completed. They will cover 142 rural settlements, or around 540,000 people. Construction of two reservoirs with a total capacity of 69.1 million cubic metres is nearing completion in the Turkistan Region.
Procurement procedures are under way to select contractors to build three reservoirs in the Zhambyl, West Kazakhstan and Kyzylorda regions. Reconstruction work has also begun on irrigation canals with a total length of 979 km in the Zhambyl, Turkistan, Kyzylorda, West Kazakhstan and Almaty regions, and the Zhetisu Region.
Since the start of 2026, 2,342 km of canals have been cleaned using mechanized methods. In 2025, 1,840 km were cleaned.
