During the current growing season, basin inspections by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation identified hundreds of violations of water legislation and imposed 310 fines totalling 58.3 million tenge. This is almost four times more than the previous year.
For reference: the growing season is the period from the start of growth until harvest.
According to the ministry's press service, most violations are related to unauthorised water abstraction, manipulation in the distribution of irrigation water, and the activities of intermediaries creating a 'black market'.
As part of the growing season, the department created four working groups to monitor the water management situation in the south of the country — in the Turkistan, Zhambyl, Kyzylorda and Almaty regions. These groups ensured the distribution of water between farms and recorded instances of violations.
"With the participation of the General Prosecutor's Office, law enforcement and other state bodies, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation is working to create an interdepartmental working group to combat the 'black market' for water at the republican level. Currently, together with the General Prosecutor's Office, an action plan is being developed for further efforts against illegal water abstraction," said the First Vice-Minister of the department, Nurlan Aldamzharov.
For comparison: during the 2024 irrigation period, basin inspections recorded 188 violations amounting to 15.8 million tenge.
Earlier, the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation reported that over the next five years Kazakhstan will need around two thousand specialists in the water management sector.
To this end, more than a thousand educational grants were allocated for the new academic year, and from July, salaries were increased for employees of 'Kazvodkhoz' — their income is now comparable to the pay of specialists in the heat and power engineering sectors.