A reservoir with a capacity of 28.4 million cubic meters is planned for construction on the Bolshoy Uzen River in the West Kazakhstan Region. According to the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan, the new facility will provide water to 12,000 hectares of limans, and in the future the irrigation area could be expanded to 20,000 hectares, reports infohub.kz.
The head of the ministry, Nurzhan Nurzhigitov, announced the launch of the project at a meeting with residents of Uralsk.
In 2025, the akimat of Kaztalovsky District in the West Kazakhstan Region estimated the construction of the reservoir at 8.7 billion tenge. It was noted that the design and estimate documentation is already ready. The project will be implemented with the support of the Islamic Development Bank.
"The projects being implemented in the West Kazakhstan Region are aimed at ensuring a stable water supply, reducing water losses, more efficient irrigation of agricultural land, and protecting settlements from floods," said Nurzhan Nurzhigitov.
In addition to the new reservoir, with the bank's support, the region plans to reconstruct the Bitik Reservoir and four main canals. According to the ministry's calculations, this will improve water supply to about 28,500 hectares of land. All projects include automated water accounting.
At the meeting, residents also asked the minister questions about protecting small rivers from depletion, pollution of water bodies, and the condition of hydraulic structures. After a personal reception of citizens, Nurzhigitov gave instructions to the heads of relevant committees and departments.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that by 2030, 42 new reservoirs will be built in Kazakhstan, but only three of them are ready at the moment.