UNDP funds Aral Basin project

A new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Capacity 21 project is helping nine villages in Aralsk and Kazalinsk manage their water resources by setting up water users associations to resolve water problems. The rural Kazakh districts in the Aral Sea Basin have suffered from the Soviet legacy of unsustainable irrigation practices, which worsened from excessive cultivation and environmental degradation.

The UNDP organised training sessions on institutional strengthening, strategic planning, project design and legal aspects of land and water use. The training has helped associations mobilise local populations to address water problems.

The villagers contribute their own meagre resources and efforts to clean up old disused canals, dig up drinking water wells and build new irrigation canals. Local administrations help by providing rent-free land, irrigation water and construction materials.