Saving the Aral Sea Demands Central Asia Work Together
The Aral Sea – once the fourth largest lake in the world – is rapidly shrinking. To preserve what remains, and ideally significantly restore parts of it, regional cooperation among Central Asian states is crucial.
In the 1960s, the Soviet authorities diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers for massive cotton and rice irrigation projects, causing the Aral Sea to shrink by over 90 percent. By 1990, only a tenth of the Aral Sea remained, having split into two parts: the Northern Aral Sea (Small Aral) in Kazakhstan and the Southern Aral Sea (Large Aral) in Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan has already invested heavily in efforts to safeguard and rehabilitate this critical ecosystem. Last year, Central Asia’s largest nation announced its plans to reconstruct the Kokaral Dam and build a hydroelectric complex near the village of Amanotkel in the Qyzylorda region, a move that could help preserve the Northern Aral Sea. Also, under national water‑management initiatives, Astana has directed billions of cubic meters of water into the lake, increasing its volume ahead of schedule – part of an official strategy to restore hydrology and ecological health.
As a result, the North Aral Sea appears to be gradually coming back to life, with reports indicating that parts of it have been successfully restored. Recent efforts by Kazakhstani government have helped keep the water steady, giving local fishermen a chance to recover. Rising water levels have reduced salinity five times, allowing fish and other species to come back. The problem, however, is that Astana cannot completely resolve the issue on its own.
In the early 2000s, Kazakhstan received a $64 million World Bank loan as part of the Regulation of the Syr Darya River and Preservation of the Northern Aral Sea project. The idea was to fund dam construction and water projects that would revive the lake. Although the World Bank continues to partner with Astana on restoration initiatives and infrastructure planning for the Northern Aral Sea, the Central Asian nation is also seeking cooperation with regional and other international actors.
Such an initiative is not surprising given that, according to Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, over the past 20 years, per capita water availability in the region had decreased by almost 30 percent. In an attempt to resolve this urgent problem, Astana proposed the creation of a new UN body that could bring together the efforts of different groups working on water issues. Moreover, it hosted several important meetings and working groups, where officials from regional countries – Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan – came together to coordinate water use, irrigation, and stable water flow across borders.
In April this year, they will have another opportunity to gather in Astana to discuss the Aral Sea crisis at the Regional Ecological Summit, the largest such gathering taking place in Central Asia. The event is designed to bring together governments, international organizations, scientists, businesses, civil society, and youth to build shared solutions on environmental and sustainable development challenges across Central Asia.
The fact that, in the past, leaders of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan – even though their countries do not have direct links to the Aral Sea – openly supported efforts for its restoration, clearly shows that concern for this critical ecosystem transcends national borders. Given that Tajikistan – also located far from the lake – has been an active founding member of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) since 1993, the authorities in Astana can likely count on Dushanbe’s support in managing shared water resources, supporting joint restoration projects, and protecting the Aral Sea.
However, a real solution seems to depend on Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan working together. In 2024, the two states ratified an Intergovernmental Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Ecology and Environmental Protection. The deal focuses on joint actions for the Aral Sea basin, water quality monitoring in the Syrdarya river, biodiversity conservation on the Ustyurt Plateau, and combating air pollution.
The agreement undoubtedly gave them a solid starting point to coordinate efforts on restoring the Aral Sea, helping to clean the water, bring back fish and wildlife, reduce dust and salt storms, and support the health and livelihoods of local communities. As a result, in June 2025, Astana and Tashkent launched a joint project to plant saxaul trees across the dried-up Aral Sea bed in the border region. In the coming months and years, they are expected to develop new strategies for sustainable water use, prevent further land degradation, and involve local communities in conservation projects.
But besides coordinating with each other, both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan rely on support from international partners. Just as the World Bank funded Kazakhstan’s restoration projects, in 2022 the Asian Development Bank approved a $150 million loan to Uzbekistan for water resources management in the Aral Sea basin. In addition, in 2025 the European Union announced a project in Uzbekistan to restore land around the lower Aral Sea, plant trees, and improve the environment and local living conditions. China, for its part, is also actively assisting Uzbekistan in tackling the Aral Sea ecological crisis through scientific collaboration, water-saving technology, and land restoration.
Thus, besides Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan – who face the direct consequences of the Aral Sea disaster – and other Central Asian nations, who recognize its regional importance, global institutions and great powers are also playing a key role in supporting restoration and sustainable water management efforts.