The Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan has reported that it is releasing water from the country’s reservoirs to make room for receiving snowmelt water in case of flooding next spring.
In the spring of 2024, Kazakhstan’s western and northern regions suffered from unprecedented floods caused by the rapid snowmelt.
According to the Ministry, the volume of water in the Astana reservoir has been reduced to 83% of its capacity: from December 20, 2024 to January 3, 2025, 5.06 million cubic meters of water were released from the reservoir. By April 1, 2025, the Ministry plans to reduce the volume of water in the reservoir to 300 million cubic meters, or 73% of its capacity.
The Aktobe reservoir now contains about 51 million cubic meters of water. By April 1, its volume will be reduced to 47.32 million cubic meters.
The water volume in the Bitik reservoir in West Kazakhstan region has been reduced to 34.45 million cubic meters, with 8.3 cubic meters of water released from the reservoir per second.
The Bukhtarma reservoir in East Kazakhstan region is 79% full now. By April 1, its water volume will be reduced by another 8%.
The Yntymak reservoir in the Karaganda region now contains 69 million cubic meters of water. It will release up to 39% of its water to receive new snowmelt water in the spring.
The volume of water in the Kengir reservoir in the Ulytau region has been reduced to 86% of capacity. It will release another 11% by the spring.
The Verkhne-Tobolsk reservoir in the Kostanay region has collected 585.4 million cubic meters of water. By April 1, its volume will be decreased to 499.37 million cubic meters or 61% of its capacity.
photo: primeminister.kz
