Water Insecurity in Central Asia: A Steppe on the One Belt, One Road Initiative?
January 30th, 2020
Via Future Directions International, a look at water insecurity in Central Asia: Central Asia is integral to Chinese efforts to increase its global connectivity. Natural resource constraints, including access to water, could undermine its influence in the region. Given the legacy of failed foreign water infrastructure in the region, any Chinese efforts to address water […]
Read more »Central Asia: Water Scarcity and Climate Change Threats
July 29th, 2019
Via The Diplomat, interesting commentary on the threat facing Central Asia from water scarcity and climate change: Central Asian countries have a long list of potential security challenges: economic recession, the return of foreign fighters from Syria and Iraq, ethnic and political violence, and the spillover of the conflict in Afghanistan. This list is not […]
Read more »Rapid Urbanization Increasing Pressure On Rural Water Supplies Globally
April 11th, 2019
Via Phys.org, an article on a new report examining the increasing competition between cities and agriculture for water: An international team of researchers has carried out the first systematic global review of water reallocation from rural to urban regions—the practice of transferring water from rural areas to cities to meet demand from growing urban populations. They […]
Read more »Central Asia: Glaciers Are Retreating While Millions Rely on Their Water.
January 18th, 2019
Courtesy of The New York Times, an interesting report on water stress in Central Asia: On a summer day in the mountains high above Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, the Tuyuksu glacier is melting like mad. Rivulets of water stream down the glacier’s thin leading edge. As she has for nearly two decades, Maria Shahgedanova, a […]
Read more »Deadly Water Disputes Intensify in Central Asia as Glaciers Melt
November 20th, 2018
Via Circle of Blue, a look at Central Asian water tensions: In Central Asia, small-scale water conflicts flare frequently along the jigsaw borders that separate Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Sometimes, these disagreements turn deadly. Under Soviet rule, water-rich Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan provided much of the water needed for the region’s agriculture, which is fed by canals […]
Read more »With Aral’s Death Irreversible, Central Asian Leaders Shift Focus to Setting a Market Price for Water
September 3rd, 2018
Via Window on Eurasia, a report on discussions of water sharing and use in Central Asia: For most of the past 25 years, the issue of saving the Aral Sea has dominated all discussions of water sharing and use in Central Asia. But now that the death of that sea has become irreversible, the leaders of […]
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