Water risks and crises in Central Asia are intensifying

An adequate and reliable supply of fresh water is a sine qua non for
socio-economic development.
Sustainable Development Goal 6.
2 (SDG 6.
2) states that by 2030, universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water
should be achieved for all.
At the same time, SDG 6.
4 also states that by 2030, water use efficiency should be significantly improved in all sectors to ensure sustainable freshwater extraction and supply
.
The achievement of these goals is challenged
by a range of issues, including climate change, water and energy scarcity.
The water crisis has become a key constraint
to regional development.
Central Asia is located in the hinterland of Eurasia, with a dry climate, many cross-border rivers, and extremely uneven spatial and temporal distribution of water and land resources, making it one of
the most serious water crises in the world.
Therefore, it is of great significance
for the scientific management of water resources in Central Asia and the realization of sustainable development goals in Central Asia to systematically assess the water crisis process in the five Central Asian countries and quantitatively identify the leading drivers of water crisis in various countries.

Based on the water stress index (WSI), safe drinking water services and water pollution indicators, the research team of Chen Yaning, a researcher team of Chen Yaning, State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted a multi-angle assessment of water resource utilization and water crisis process in five Central Asian countries, and quantitatively analyzed the impact
of climate change, population growth, poverty, urbanization and transboundary river management on water crisis.

The results show that water risks and crises in Central Asia continue to intensify
.
From the water pressure index (WSI), Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are in a state of "extreme water pressure", Tajikistan belongs to "high water pressure", Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan are "moderate water pressure", except Kazakhstan, the rest of the countries WSI has continued to increase
in recent years.

In addition, the proportion of people with access to safe drinking water services in rural areas is significantly lower in all five Central Asian countries than in urban
areas.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, as the major agricultural water users in Central Asia, have significantly increased their average annual mild and actual evapotranspiration since 1960, while precipitation has shown a downward trend, which has led to a decrease
in the amount of available water resources.
The impact of human activities on the water crisis is more pronounced
than climatic factors.
Arable land area and population were significantly positively correlated with water crisis (p<0.
05), with regression coefficients of 0.
62 and 1.
62
, respectively.
The population of the five Central Asian countries has increased significantly in size and density, and all of them have been accompanied by varying degrees of poverty, especially in Kyrgyzstan
.
At the same time, GDP and urbanization rates have been rising since 2000, increasing demand for water resources and exacerbating water pollution
.
Moreover, Central Asia is one of the most densely distributed transboundary rivers in the world, and improper management of transboundary rivers and frequent water conflicts have seriously restricted the rational allocation of water resources, and are also the main reasons for
the increased water risks and water crises in Central Asia.

The results were published in the Journal of Cleaner Production
under the title "The growing water crisis in Central Asia and the driving forces behind it.
" The first author of the paper is Dr.
Wang Xuanxuan of Xinjiang Institute of Bioscience, and the research was supported
by the Pilot Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Link to the article:

Fig.
1 Changes in water consumption (a) and water stress index (WSI) (b) and (c-f) of the five Central Asian countries from 1997 to 2016 are scatter plots of WSI in each country

Figure 2 Proportion of population with rural, urban and national access to safely managed drinking water in the five Central Asian countries (%)