BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 19. A reduction of river flow in Kazakhstan to 99 cubic kilometers in 2030 is forecasted, The Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resource of Kazakhstan stated this, Trend reports citing Kazakh media.
"The average long-term river flow was 120 cubic kilometers in 2000, now it's 102 cubic kilometers," Head of the Department of State Control in the field of use and protection of the water fund of the Committee on Water Resources of the Ministry of Ecology of Kazakhstan Marat Imanaliev said.
According to some forecasts, a further reduction in river flow to 99 cubic kilometers is expected by 2030.
The inefficient use of water resources is observed against the background of the growing shortage.
"The economy of Kazakhstan needs three times more water. An average of 129 cubic kilometers of water is spent on units of production, whereas in the USA and in Russia this value amounts to 44 cubic kilometers, and in Australia - 21 cubic kilometers. This is primarily due to large unproductive water losses. In agriculture, during transportation, we lose about 40 percent or even more of water. And we use water-intensive technologies in economic sectors," Imanaliev informed.