Thirst. Where the Amu Darya bears its waters

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Thirst. Where the Amu Darya bears its waters

All around - water ...


Little does bring Russia closer to Central Asia, and after it to Afghanistan. However, a common solution to the water problem could bring everyone here, like little else. And it is not only the quite obvious geopolitical factor that predetermines the inevitability of constant dialogue.

It is the water-economic geography that can become an additional incentive to somehow cooperate even with the Taliban.

We are talking, of course, about the colossal and as yet almost inexhaustible transboundary basin of the Amu Darya River. With all its tributaries, it is over 200 thousand square kilometers.



Of these, at least 20% are, although many are surprised, just in Afghanistan. For this reason, cooperation in the Amu Darya basin is of strategic importance both for Afghanistan and for its northern neighbors. Confirmation of this is the still little-known fact that the Taliban uphold all documents relating to this cooperation.

Thus, Protocol No. 566 of 1987, signed by the union republics of Central Asia (in Tashkent) and approved by the government of the then Afghanistan, provides for annual water withdrawals in this basin by Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and even Kazakhstan.

Taking into account the transboundary rivers Pyanj and Murgab of the same basin - in a total volume of 61,5 cubic kilometers, not the most solid quotas of 2,1 cubic meters were established for Afghanistan. km. But the actual figure for Afghanistan since 1988 has been at least 4 cubic kilometers.


It is interesting that so far this has not raised objections from the signatory republics. And this document is de facto valid today.

Meanwhile, in 1992, the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) of the countries of Central Asia was established, and its executive body is the “Basin Water Organization (BWO)“ Amu Darya ”created in the early 80s.

However, to date, Afghanistan does not fully participate in these structures, since it has the status of an associated observer country in them. At the same time, the Taliban Afghanistan does not renounce this status.

Unclassified fairway


The only Central Asian state that is really interested in cooperation in this area with Afghanistan is Tajikistan. In view of the maximum - within the Amu Darya basin - economic and geographical interdependence of transboundary rivers and the size of their joint length.

Accordingly, on October 1, 2012, Tajikistan and Afghanistan signed a memorandum in Dushanbe, with no expiration date, "On mutual understanding and measures to protect the environment of the ecosystem of the Pyanj and Amu Darya rivers".

The document is designed for five years and provides for joint development and implementation of measures in this transboundary basin to:

1) counteracting climate change;
2) conservation of biodiversity;
3) monitoring of water quality;
4) environmental expertise of water management projects;
5) exchange of experience in the management and use of water resources of the same basin.


This document has not been canceled by the Taliban and, most likely, will be prolonged, because 11 years ago - in 2010, Tajikistan and Afghanistan signed (in Dushanbe) a basic agreement in this area - an open-ended agreement "On cooperation in the development and management of river water resources. Pyanj and Amu Darya ".


The Taliban, let us note, canceled most of the international agreements of the "former" Afghanistan or suspended them, but this document was also left in force by them. Apparently, also because to date, with the annual flow of the Amu Darya basin 78,34 cubic meters. km more than 25%, that is, about 20 cubic meters. km, is formed on the territory of Afghanistan (on the territories of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - respectively 61 and 6,6%).

At the same time, the water intake by Afghanistan now varies between 3 and 5 cubic meters. km per year, and in the coming years Kabul plans to increase the extraction from the Amu Darya basin up to 10 cubic kilometers per year.

Russian interest


Meanwhile, Tajikistan is developing the colossal hydropower potential of the Panj, bordering Afghanistan, which forms more than a third (that is, about 33,4 cubic kilometers) of the Amu Darya's water resources. The planned, moreover, large, border hydrosystems on the Tajik channel of the Pyanj include the Dashtijumsky (capacity 4 MW, capacity 17,6 cubic km) and Rushansky (capacity 3 MW, capacity - 5 cubic km).

Their construction is planned for 2022–2025, mainly with the help of Russia. That is, the Russian Federation also receives a substantive economic incentive to interact with the Taliban Afghanistan. It is assumed that water volumes and / or electricity from these facilities will be partially supplied to northern and / or northeastern Afghanistan.

Plus, to this day, plans have not been canceled for the last five years of the reign of King M. Zahir Shah (1969-1973) to create, with the help of the USSR and Iran, a network of low and medium-power hydroelectric power plants in the region bordering Central Asia.

According to available information, the Taliban included these plans in the program for the development of electricity, agricultural irrigation and domestic water supply in northern Afghanistan. This, in turn, will require an assessment of the impact of this network on the water withdrawal capabilities of neighboring Central Asian countries in the Amu Darya basin.

Russian participation in these projects is a substantive channel for interaction between the Russian Federation and Taliban Afghanistan.

And the potential of this joint activity is also manifested in the transport sector.


Let us explain: on June 22 this year, during a meeting of the Russian-Uzbek commission on economic cooperation, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov noted that

“We think it is important that Russian Railways is interested in participating in the construction project of the Termez-Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar (Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan) railway corridor, which will make it possible to form a fundamentally new model of international railway communication”.

It is significant that the Taliban did not cancel this long-standing project either.

Water procedures


Returning to the role of the transboundary Amu Darya basin in cooperation with Taliban Afghanistan, we note that intra-, interstate and regional political conflicts, as world practice confirms, remain secondary for the rational use of transboundary water resources.

Examples of this are the agreements that are still in force in the 1990s between the Russian Federation and Latvia on the Daugava - Western Dvina basin, the Russian Federation and Estonia on Lake Peipsi - the Narva River, this is also a zone of transboundary environmental and economic cooperation "Neman" (Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation, Belarus, Lithuania, north-eastern voivodeships of Poland).

Another characteristic example: even during the period of military-political confrontation between the PRC and Vietnam, as well as Vietnam with the pro-Chinese Kampuchea (Cambodia) and Thailand, at the turn of the 70s and 80s, China, where the source and upper reaches of the transboundary Mekong are located, has interacted to this day interacts with the Mekong River Basin Committee, which initially (i.e. since 1957) includes Vietnam *, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

*Note. In 1957-1974, the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) participated in the treaty, and North Vietnam (DRV) in the same years had the status of an associated observer in this Committee. Since May 1975, its member is the united Vietnam.

A similar example: the water management Organization of the Congo Basin is still functioning (since 1978) and is implementing relevant projects in the two republics of the Congo (Brazzaville and Kinshasa), the CAR and Angola, despite the well-known political conflicts between Kinshasa and Luanda and the internal political instability in the CAR ...
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21 comment
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  1. +1
    25 October 2021 18: 17
    On the one hand, whoever got up first got the slippers! But the barmaley people are not predictable. Soon they will start to divide the Bakhshish, many will be killed.
    1. +2
      26 October 2021 11: 32
      They will not start. Everything is divided up to them and for them as well. They understand this very well. As well as the fact that those projects in which Russia is participating require close attention, at least that Russia is represented in them by qualified personnel, which cannot be said about some other participating countries.
  2. Eug
    +14
    25 October 2021 18: 23
    And Sudan with Ethiopia already
    agreed on the dam? Although the border there is not along the Nile ... and the feeling that the Taliban is led by someone very literate and wise does not leave ...
    1. +3
      26 October 2021 12: 51
      Quote: Eug
      the feeling that the Taliban are led by someone very literate and wise ...

      And he is by no means overseas!
  3. +2
    25 October 2021 18: 37
    Will the Taliban work? They only know how to fight. Do they need it?
    No, if for free, as fraternal help, I think they will accept it.
  4. +7
    25 October 2021 18: 54
    What nonsense, let the Russian Ministry of Agriculture ask them for a million and two million hectares. Patrushev and Putin do not mind, even if the whole of Central Asia goes to Russia for the joy of Khisnullin and Sobyanin.
  5. +8
    25 October 2021 19: 08

    Water is limited in Central Asia. May the centuries-old wisdom help them to avoid conflicts.
  6. +7
    25 October 2021 20: 25
    Already for geographical reasons, ALL neighbors will have to negotiate with the Taliban. Low water content is the first factor for this.
  7. +5
    25 October 2021 20: 29
    Maybe let's think about ourselves?
    Due to the difficult hydrological situation in the Astrakhan region, water supply to more than a dozen settlements is expected to be disrupted, ferry crossings will be stopped. The fact is that the water level on the lower Volga fell by more than 60 cm, which is 20-25 cm lower than in the most dry year of 2010.
    The Federal Agency for Water Resources (Rosvodresursy) advised the Volga regions
    adapt to the existing hydrological features of the territories, taking into account the design efficiency of the cascade
  8. +6
    25 October 2021 21: 21
    The Turkmens were quietly saddened on the banks of the Karakum Canal.
  9. -1
    25 October 2021 23: 34
    Here, for the Aral Sea, I must say a big thank you to the USSR and the local party members - for the fact that with their actions and inaction they, for the first time in the history of mankind, destroyed the whole sea.
    1. +3
      26 October 2021 07: 38
      Before writing, I would advise you to seriously study this issue.
      1. +1
        26 October 2021 12: 54
        Quote: StarMaster
        Before writing, I would advise you to seriously study this issue.

        Not everyone is aware that from Bactria to the Caucasus, and maybe to Greece, the Greeks traveled by swimming.
      2. -1
        26 October 2021 17: 51
        Everything has long been studied, and not only by me, but by thousands and thousands of people who were involved in the cause of the disappearance of the Aral Sea. Now the children of these Asian degenerates, former local party members, as well as the children of their children, will "swim" for a very long time in the salty desert mixed with pesticides and in the surrounding area where nothing will grow. These bastards are still gaining insolence - with the requirements, deploy the northern rivers and return the sea to us, and everything at the expense of Russia - let them be bald, let them save billions of dollars, build nuclear power plants, drill wells - hundreds of artesian wells put electric pumps, conduct power lines and produce water.
        1. 0
          27 October 2021 07: 54
          Some ancient maps show a single sea of ​​the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea.
          1. -1
            27 October 2021 23: 51
            Only the Aral Sea is no longer like this anymore.
            1. 0
              28 October 2021 00: 28
              I know. In 1989 he flew over it in an airplane. Now there is a pitiful puddle of that sea ... (
    2. 0
      28 October 2021 18: 15
      Quote: Vadim237
      they were the first in the history of mankind to destroy the whole sea.

      read about Aral-Asar. It seems to me that this is not the first destruction of the Aral Sea. Moreover, in a fairly short period, by geological standards, in general instantly.
  10. +6
    26 October 2021 04: 34
    Dear author, if you write about hydropower, try to study the issue more seriously.
    Phrases:
    - "This is, of course, about the colossal and as yet almost inexhaustible transboundary basin of the Amu Darya River";
    - "Meanwhile, Tajikistan is developing the colossal hydropower potential of the Panj, bordering Afghanistan";
    struck me down.
    The development of "colossal" hydropower in this region will destroy the remains of the Aral Sea.
    Pyanj and Amu Darya do not and never will have any serious hydraulic potential.
    Small hydroelectric power plants are the maximum supply of one or two villages, there can be no talk of any development of industry.
  11. +2
    26 October 2021 11: 16
    That's right: Tajikistan is increasingly short of water, and between the countries of the region there are NO common-binding documents on water regulation and water use. They will not be capable without the participation of neighboring Afghanistan. Hydropower. the potential of the Pyanj (and the Afg. tributary of the Amu Darya - the Kunduz River) is a fact, but high-power hydro-objects are not planned there.
  12. BAI
    +2
    26 October 2021 16: 09
    the still almost inexhaustible transboundary basin of the Amu Darya river.

    What does inexhaustible mean? The Syr Darya has been exhausted, and soon there will be nothing left of the Amu.

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