Astana’s Plans for River Flowing into Russia Intended to Force Moscow to Send Siberian River Water into Kazakhstan, Baliyev Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Mar. 1 – Kazakhstan is working independently on plans to reduce the flow of the Ishim River from that country into the Russian Federation and thus force Moscow to agree to divert water from Siberian rivers into Kazakhstan and the rest of Central Asia, according to Aleksey Baliyev.
    The St. Petersburg journalist says that Kazakhstan has been doing this without consulting Moscow and thus is trying to force Moscow to be open to discussions of Siberian river diversion (vpoanalytics.com/point-of-view/kazakhstan-rossia-transgranichnuyu-reku-ishim-prigovorili-k-perebroske/).
    Baliyev’s argument is that the structures on the Ishim that the Astana plan calls for building over the next three years are exactly the kind of dams, canals and reservoirs that would be needed if Russian water were sent south rather than water from Kazakhstan continuing to flow north into the Russian Federation.
    Not only does the plan ignore suggestions that no Siberian river diversion is needed if the Central Asian countries improve irrigation projects and limit the evaporation and filtration of water in canals already (uzmetronom.agency/2024/01/31/bahtijor-ergashev-ne-nesite-bred.html), but it assumes that countries other than Russia will fund it and have a say.
    Russians should not assume that the idea of diverting Siberian river water to Central Asia has been killed off, Baliyev continues. They must recognize that the Central Asians and their allies inside Russia are not only arguing for it but taking real steps to make such a mistake inevitable.
    For background on the most recent back and forth about Siberian river diversion, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/02/siberian-river-diversion-may-finally.html.