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Kazakhstan And Kyrgyzstan: War Of Words Over Water
August 18th, 2013
Via Eurasia.net, a look at water tensions in central Asia: A simmering water dispute between Astana and Bishkek is heating up, with Kyrgyzstan threatening to cut electricity to its neighbor and reportedly accusing Kazakh officials of attempted extortion – then denying it. The dispute escalated on July 29 when Kyrgyzstan’s energy minister alleged, according to […]
Read more »Hydropower In Tajikistan: Folie De Grandeur
July 30th, 2013
Courtesy of The Economist, an interesting look at Tajikistan’s plans to build the world’s tallest dam: ON A bluff above the river Vakhsh, Rogun’s ramshackle square boasts at least four billboards featuring Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rakhmon, and his aphorisms, such as “Rogun is the bright future of Tajikistanâ€. Rogun is both a town, some 100km […]
Read more »Kyrgyz Block Water to Kazakhstan, Demanding the Return of “Their†Land
July 17th, 2013
Via Global Voices Online, an interesting commentary on water dispute in Central Asia: During the enforced brotherhood of communism, land and water were not a source of friction for the peoples of Soviet Central Asia. Over the course of two decades of sovereignty, however, arguments over the delimitation of national borders and access to trans-boundary […]
Read more »Kyrgyrstan: Kambar Ata Will Not Impact Kazakhstan Or Uzbekistan
April 20th, 2013
Via Hydroworld, a brief article on Kyrgyrstan’s contentious Kambar Ata dams: Launch of both Kambar-Ata hydropower plants will allow to additionally produce up to 6.3 billion kWh of power annually. This will meet the country’s highest power needs in winter time and will allow export of excess power throughout vegetation period, power engineer Alexey Zyrianov […]
Read more »Central Asian Water Tensions: Solving Tajikistan’s Energy Crisis
March 26th, 2013
Courtesy of the Carnegie Endowment, a detailed look at the Central Asian water crisis and the linchpin Tajik energy crisis: In early November 2012, the government of Tajikistan announced that its national budget for 2013 would include 1.2 billion Tajik somoni (over $251 million) for the construction of the controversial Rogun Dam on the Vakhsh […]
Read more »Central Asia’s Looming Conflict Over Water: The Upriver Countries
November 12th, 2012
Via STRATFOR (subscription required), a detailed look at how two of Central Asia’s poorest countries, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, are attempting to leverage one of their few geographic advantages — control over the headwaters of two major regional rivers — to build new hydropower dams. The proposed dams, which were originally drawn up by the Soviet […]
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