DUSHANBE, October 17, 2009, Asia-Plus  - Tajikistan tops Central Asia’s states in terms of economic use of water, Minister of Land Reclamation and Water Resources Said Yoqubzod announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on October 16.

According to him, Tajikistan’s annual quota in the Amudarya River amounts to 9.5 billion cubic kilometers of waters, while the country actually uses up to 5.5 billion cubic kilometers of the Amudarya waters per year and “only during the dry years, Tajikistan uses up to 6 billion cubic meters of waters from this river.”

The minister noted that since Tajikistan does not have reservoirs for unused water, it flows to neighboring Uzbekistan and from there to Turkmenistan and only after that it reaches the Aral Sea.  “Unfortunately, the unused 4 billion cubic kilometer of waters of our quota do not reach the Aral Sea, while the interstate coordinating commission determined that 6 billion cubic kilometers of water should come to the Aral Sea from each of the Central Asian states every year.”  It happens because the neighboring countries use water in excess of the determined rate, he noted.

“International organizations had recommended our neighbors long ago that they should plant  and cultivate crops that do not require much moisture, use water in accordance with the rates determined and economize water in order to rehabilitate the Aral Sea,” the minister stated.