On April 10, 2020, the 78th meeting of the Interstate Coordination Water Management Commission (ICWC) of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea was held in Ashgabat with the participation of representatives of water departments of Turkmenistan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. A delegation led by the Chairman of the State Committee for Water Resources of Turkmenistan took part in the meeting from the Turkmen side.
During the meeting, participants reviewed the progress of the respective countries in implementing the activities arising from the Joint Communiqué adopted at the Summit of the Heads of States of the founding members of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, held on August 24, 2018 in the city of Turkmenbashi. An exchange of views also took place regarding the implementation of proposals and initiatives related to improving the environmental, water and socio-economic situation in the Aral Sea basin.
Also, participants, referring to the historic speech of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov during the World Water Forum held on April 12, 2015 in the city of Taegu of the Republic of Korea, noted the effectiveness of water diplomacy carried out by our country and emphasized its importance as a reliable mechanism in strengthening political and diplomatic contacts.
At the meeting, the final reports of the heads of the regional water associations “Syr Darya” and “Amu Darya” on the results of using water limits for the growing season 2019-2020 were also heard in the Syr Darya and Amu Darya river basins. The results of negotiations also approved the volumes of water withdrawals from Central Asian countries and the predicted mode of operation of cascades of reservoirs in the basins of these rivers for the growing season of 2020.
Following the results of the 78th ICWC meeting, the Protocol was adopted.