Kazakhstan's Irrigation Overhaul: Less Waste, Better Harvests

Standing at the edge of a newly lined canal in Shymkent, farmer Atabek Kozhabekov reflects on his most recent harvest. "This year we planted cotton. Seedling counts rose. Compared to last year, productivity is 50% higher." He is now collecting 6,500 kilograms of cotton per hectare, enough to produce over 30,000 T-shirts. The difference comes down to one thing: improved irrigation - water arriving reliably, in the right quantity, at the right time.

Atabek's experience is one of hundreds of thousands across southern Kazakhstan transformed by the Second Irrigation and Drainage Improvement Project (IDIP-2). With World Bank support, the Government of Kazakhstan has rehabilitated and modernized irrigation and drainage infrastructure across five regions, fundamentally changing how water is managed, delivered, and conserved in the country at scale.

A System Rebuilt from the Ground Up

Rebuilding Kazakhstan's water infrastructure is no modest undertaking. Across the Kyzylorda, Zhambyl, Turkistan, and Almaty regions, IDIP-2 rehabilitated 812.6 kilometers of lined canals, 2,325 kilometers of earthen secondary canals, and more than 28,800 hydraulic structures. Over 100,000 hectares of agricultural land now benefit from improved irrigation and drainage, including digitalized monitoring and control.

At one of the sites in Kyzylkum, Pavel Grasmik, а representative of the AKELIC Group LLC, pulls out a tablet and demonstrates something what would have been unimaginable here a decade ago: remote pump controls. Water-level and pressure sensors now feed data continuously to a central server, with backup batteries ensuring two days of uninterrupted transmission during power outages. "We can turn on the pump remotely and show the water level," Pavel explains.

Across 147 kilometers of canals at this site alone, real-time monitoring has replaced reactive, manual management - meaning the system can anticipate issues before they arise, operators are freed up for other tasks, and water losses that once went undetected are now caught in real time.

Alongside sensors and remote controls, the project also embraced low-tech solutions to meet local challenges. In stretches where canals run close to residential areas and heavy machinery cannot reach, engineers deployed a bitumen geomembrane lining, which can be completed in hours with a service life of 40 to 50 years. "Its service life is comparable to concrete canals," notes Pavel, "And the canals can still be cleaned manually with shovels."

Built to Last: Sustainable Management from the Ground Up

Rebuilding infrastructure is only half the challenge. Ensuring it is properly managed, operated, and maintained for decades to come is equally critical - and IDIP-2 invested consistently in this. The project developed operational manuals, strengthened farmer participation in water governance, and put in place financing mechanisms tied to improved agricultural incomes. The goal was straightforward: make sure that what was built would not fall into disrepair.

By project completion, all 11 irrigation schemes under the project - covering 100,000 hectares - were operating under improved water management. Perhaps most significantly, two pilot agricultural cooperatives covering 4,274 hectares and 430 farms have begun taking on direct responsibility for operating and maintaining the infrastructure themselves. The Government of Kazakhstan now intends to scale this model nationwide, putting the long-term stewardship of these systems in the hands of the communities that depend on them.

Harvests, Jobs, and Local Communities

The impact of these investments on farms has been immediate. More reliable water delivery - combined with over 10,200 people trained at events on water management, agronomic practices like crop rotation, and water-efficient irrigation - has strengthened yields across the project area. Crucially, IDIP-2 did not dictate what local farmers should plant. That decision remains with beneficiaries, shaped by market demand and local knowledge. What the project provided was the infrastructure within which those choices can be made freely and productively. IDIP-2 directly benefited 108,234 water users - nearly 10% of the total population across the project area - of whom 48% were women, reflecting their central role in Kazakhstan's agricultural workforce.

The project's results also feed directly into Kazakhstan's broader agenda. Its alignment with the new Water Code, the Concept for the Development and Management of Water Resources 2024-2030, and the country's Green Economy Transition positions IDIP-2 as a replicable model, one that the Government of Kazakhstan can scale nationwide through the cooperative management model piloted here. "The approach can be applied to other regions of the country," notes Nurkenbay Onal, representative of the civil engineering contractor "Meliorator" LLP.

Another lasting impact of the project is jobs. As water arrived more reliably, so did new employment opportunities building and maintaining the canals as well in nearby agribusinesses.

"We hired specialists from this village and young workers from outside," says Nurkenbay, whose company helped build and monitor drainage infrastructure and pumping stations. "They worked well, delivered results, and gained valuable experience."

The project's success cannot be measured only in economic returns or kilometers of modernized canals. Its real impact is reflected in people: workers who gained new skills, farmers who are growing new types of crops, and communities that now have both reliable access to water and stronger institutions to sustain critical water infrastructure for the future.