OSCE Programme Office builds capacity of Balkhash-Alakol Water Basin Council
An OSCE-supported training seminar and a regular meeting of the Balkhash-Alakol Water Council took place on 30 June 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The meeting was co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and the Balkhash-Alakol Basin Council for some 20 representatives of regional water authorities, business organizations and civil society. The participants reviewed situation with water contamination by the industry, fragmentation and irrational use of water resources in the basin as well as the risks posed to the Balkhash-Alakol ecosystem as a result of intensive economic development. They were familiarized with international instruments on water-sharing in a transboundary context and identified possible solutions to the issue.
The training seminar commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Balkhash-Alakol Water Basin Council, which was established to address the challenges in the area of effective water resources management and sustainable use as well as co-operation aimed to promote a fair water-sharing in the basin. At the meeting an agreement between the Almaty Regional Administration, local hydropower facility management and Balkhash-Alakol Water Basin Inspection was signed in order to improve the use and protection of water resources in accordance with the relevant action plan.
The event is part of the Office’s multiyear efforts to raise awareness and build capacity of state institutions in the area of water governance. It goes in line with the OSCE Serbian Chairmanship’s priorities and the OSCE Strategy Document for the Economic and Environmental Dimension which stresses the need of public involvement in decision-making on water issues. It also meets the goals of the Year of Water declared in Kazakhstan in 2015.