International water development problems in the transboundary Irtysh River basin: "new" solutions to old problems

Abstract

The article discusses the problems of water use in the transboundary Irtysh River basin and the characteristics of their manifestation in different national segments. In the basin countries, separate subsystems are distinguished by the nature of the formation and use of water resources. There is a growing position of the Chinese side; it has significantly increased the withdrawal of water resources from Kara-Irtysh, thereby, violating the state of the aquatic ecosystem of the receiving Lake Zaisan and, accordingly, the operation of the Upper Irtysh reservoirs and hydroelectric power plants. In the Russian Federation, the situation is the most complicated in the Tobol River basin, where large industrial centers of the Trans-Urals are located; in Kazakhstan-in the Ishim river basin due to a significant development of its capital Astana (Nur-Sultan). We have analyzed the largest projects on the Ob water transfer to the Irtysh river basin proposed by the Chinese and Kazakh scientists and designers. The Russian side had a somewhat passive role in this process, which focuses mainly on solving specific problems, in particular, providing water resources to the city of Omsk through the construction of the Krasnogorodsk water reservoir at the Irtysh and the inter-basin transfer of river water from the Urals, Kama and Irtysh to the Tobol River basin. Emphasis is placed on the need to establish tripartite institutions for regulating water relations and international cooperation in the field of water use in the Irtysh river basin.