Turkmenistan
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Highlights
Overview of Water Resources
The river runoff originating in the country is estimated at 1.0 km³/year. Several rivers are found in Turkmenistan, most of them flowing into the country from its neighbours.
The agreement among the five Central Asian republics stipulates that on average 22 km³/year are to be reserved for Turkmenistan (of which 0.68 km³/year are IRWR) and 22 km³/year for Uzbekistan. It has been considered that the latter comes into Turkmenistan before being used downstream in Uzbekistan.
During the Soviet period, water resources sharing among the five Central Asian republics was on the basis of master plans for water resources development in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins. In 1992, with the establishment of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination, the newly independent republics agreed (18 February 1992) to prepare a regional water strategy, and to continue to respect the existing principles until the adoption of a new water sharing agreement to be proposed by this new water strategy.
The part of the Amu Darya flow allocated to Turkmenistan is 50% of the actual river flow at the Kerki gauging station, the other 50% being allocated to Uzbekistan. The Turkmen allocation corresponds to 42.27% of the part of the Amu Darya surface water resources on which agreements have been concluded. The agreements are calculated on the basis of about 67% of the total amount of flow produced in the Amu Darya basin (78.46 km³/year on average). The surface water resources allocated to Turkmenistan are thus calculated every year, depending on the importance of the current flows. On average, it can be considered that the water resources allocated to Turkmenistan in the Amu Darya basin are about 22 km³/year.
As far as the Tedzhen and Atrek waters are concerned, the treaty signed in February 1926 between Iran and Turkmenistan remains in force. This treaty stipulates that Turkmenistan receives each year a quantity equal to 70% of the total Tedzhen average runoff, and 50% of the total Atrek average runoff. This corresponds to an average of 0.75 km³/year for the Tedzhen River and 0.06 km³/year for the Atrek River.
The largest and most important waterway in Turkmenistan is the Kara Kum canal. This canal was constructed in the 1950s and is, with its some 1 300 km, the longest canal in the world. The canal capacity is estimated at 630 m³/s. Its inlet at the Amu Darya River is located just after the river enters Turkmenistan from Uzbekistan. It brings water to Ashkhabad and to the oases in the south.
The renewable groundwater resources are estimated at 3.36 km³/year, of which about 3 km³/year are estimated to be infiltration from rivers, including surface water resources generated in upstream countries. In 1994, the existing equipment enabled a groundwater abstraction of 1.22 km³/year.
The total IRWR are thus estimated at 1.36 km³/year, and the total ARWR at 24.72 km³/year.
Projects
UNDP-Projects
National:
Regional:
Ongoing
Others
Reports
Turkmenistan, Millennium Development Goals Report
Water, Climate, and Development Issues in the Amudarya Basin
Turkmenistan - Water Supply and Sanitation Data for 1990 and 2004
Resources and Links
Contacts
- CoP-Members
- User:Tim.turner
- User:Rovshen.nurmukhamedov
- User:Melina.seyfollahzadeh
- User:Hamid.ghaffarzadeh
- User:Djemshid.Khadjiyev
- User:Christine.roth
- User:Christina.carlson
- User:Ardalan.sotoudeh
- Contacts
- Vadim Sokolov
- Tulegen Sarsembekov
- Siegfried Leffler
- Magdalena Banasiak
- Hamidreza Ghaffarzadeh
- Craig Steffensen
- Alireza Valipour
