ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 18. To get ahead of the game when it comes to floods, Kazakhstan and Russia have rolled up their sleeves and begun daily exchanges of information on all the transboundary rivers that flow between them, Trend reports via the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation of Kazakhstan.
Since the beginning of the year, two meetings of the Joint Kazakhstan-Russian Working Group on Interaction During the Passage of Floods and Flooding have been held. At these meetings, the parties informed each other about the established and planned operating modes of reservoirs, as well as exchanged forecasts on water inflows into reservoirs and expected water levels in transboundary rivers.
"At the moment, constant monitoring of water levels in rivers and reservoirs in Kazakhstan is being carried out, with round-the-clock duty organized. Reservoirs are provided with free capacity to accept and safely pass floodwaters. A total of 240 km of rivers, including the Irtysh and Ural, which also flow through the Russian Federation, have been cleaned," said Nurlan Aldamzharov, Vice Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation.
With the heat turning up and the snow giving way, the North Kazakhstan Region is walking a tightrope when it comes to flooding. Municipal services have switched to round-the-clock operation, pumping water and installing additional pumping stations to protect the population.
Eight regions of Kazakhstan, including East Kazakhstan, Karaganda, Akmolinsk, North Kazakhstan, Kostanay, Aktobe, Abay, and Ulytau, are in the high flood risk zone. These regions are expected to experience intense snowmelt and potential flooding.
The bilateral data interchange will persist until the conclusion of the hydrological inundation period.
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