Water Levels in Lake Issyk-Kul, Jewel of ‘Water-Surplus’ Kyrgyzstan, Continue to Fall, Threatening Human Use of Northern Shore

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 7 – Discussions of water in Central Asia for the past 50 years have invariably focused on the differences between the two “water surplus” countries, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where there the rivers rise that flow into the three “water shortage” ones, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

            Because of that approach, most have assumed that the “water surplus” countries don’t have serious problems while the “water shortage” ones do. But in fact, even the “water surplus” countries are facing increasing difficulties, with the situation in Kyrgyzstan particularly dire not only in the south but around Kyrgyzstan’s famed Lake Issyk-Kul.

            The water levels in that lake have been falling for 170 years, Bishkek scholars say; but now the declines are hitting the republic especially hard. That is because the lake has two very different shorelines, in the south where they are in most places steep rocky cliffs while in the north they feature more level land on which resorts have been built.

            As the water levels continue to decline, these experts at the country’s Academy of Sciences say, there is a risk that much of the waters of the lake along the northern shore will turn into swamp land, making the adjoining land ever less attractive for human use (turmush.kg/ru/news:2446361, eco.akipress.org/news:2447836 and bugin.info/detail/issyk-kul-otstupaet-ugr/ru).

            There is no immediate danger that Issyk Kul will die as has the Aral Sea and as Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan and the Caspian are now threatened. It is too deep for that, but projected declines in water level underscores a reality few have acknowledged: even the “water surplus” countries face serious problems because of global warming and increased human use.