Kazakhstan rebuilds 812 km of lined canals and southern cotton yields rise

A World Bank-backed irrigation programme in southern Kazakhstan, the Second Irrigation and Drainage Improvement Project (IDIP-2), rehabilitated 812.6 kilometres of lined canals across the Kyzylorda, Zhambyl, Turkistan and Almaty regions, the World Bank reported on 16 June 2026. Irrigation and drainage services improved on more than 100,000 hectares of farmland, and farmers reported better harvests.

Standing beside a newly lined canal in Shymkent, the farmer Atabek Kozhabekov described his latest harvest: "This year we planted cotton. Seedling counts rose. Compared to last year, productivity is 50% higher." According to the World Bank, he was collecting 6,500 kilograms of cotton per hectare, and the difference came down to improved irrigation: water arriving reliably, in the right quantity, at the right time.

World Bank project records show that IDIP-2 was approved on 27 June 2013, with a Bank commitment of US$102.9 million and a total project cost of US$343.01 million. It was implemented by the Committee of Water Resources under Kazakhstan's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, with the stated aim of improving irrigation and drainage service delivery to farmers in the project areas.

Besides the lined canals, the project rebuilt 2,325 kilometres of earthen secondary canals and more than 28,800 hydraulic structures. Much of the region's water comes from the Syr Darya, which rises in the Tian Shan mountains and flows through southern Kazakhstan, including Kyzylorda Region, to the northern remnants of the Aral Sea. Soviet-era irrigation schemes diverted so much of its water that the Aral Sea virtually disappeared, which is why cutting losses along the canals matters here.

At a site in Kyzylkum, Pavel Grasmik, a representative of AKELIC Group LLC, used a tablet to demonstrate remote pump controls. Water-level and pressure sensors feed data continuously to a central server, and backup batteries keep transmission going for two days during power cuts. "We can turn on the pump remotely and show the water level," he said. Across 147 kilometres of canals at that site alone, real-time monitoring replaced reactive manual management and catches water losses that once went unnoticed.

Not every answer was high technology. Where canals run close to houses and heavy machinery cannot reach, engineers laid a bitumen geomembrane lining that can be completed in hours and has a service life of 40 to 50 years. "Its service life is comparable to concrete canals," Grasmik noted, "and the canals can still be cleaned manually with shovels."

The project also worked on keeping the new works in repair: it developed operating manuals, strengthened farmer participation in water governance and set up financing mechanisms. By completion, all 11 irrigation schemes, covering 100,000 hectares, were operating under improved water management. Two pilot agricultural cooperatives, covering 4,274 hectares and 430 farms, had begun operating and maintaining the infrastructure themselves, a model the government intended to scale nationwide.

More than 10,200 people were trained in water management, practices such as crop rotation, and water-efficient irrigation. IDIP-2 directly benefited 108,234 water users, 48% of them women.

Jobs followed the water, in building and maintaining canals and in nearby agribusinesses. "We hired specialists from this village and young workers from outside," said Nurkenbay Onal of the civil engineering contractor Meliorator LLP, whose company helped build and monitor drainage infrastructure and pumping stations. "They worked well, delivered results, and gained valuable experience." He noted that the approach can be applied to other regions of the country.

The World Bank said the results align with Kazakhstan's new Water Code, the Concept for the Development and Management of Water Resources 2024-2030 and its Green Economy Transition.

Photo: Petar Milošević / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sources: World Bank (feature, 16 June 2026), World Bank project record (P086592), Wikipedia (Syr Darya, Kyzylorda Region)