Ecological problems of water resources in Kazakhstan

Abstract

This paper proposes a solution to the environmental problems in the Republic of Kazakhstan associated with the provision of the population with quality water. The authors propose to use only clear scientific forecasts, practical ecological scenarios, as well as the methodology of the National Action Plan for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development. This will allow to solve the issues of desertification, salinization, water scarcity, decline in irrigation, agriculture, and the fishing industry in the future. The purpose of the article is to reveal the reasons for the insufficiency and unevenness in the provision of water resources in the republic. In the study the principle of historicism and systems analysis is used. T he r esults o f t he research confirm and indicate that the growth of the economic potential in industry and the transition to market mechanisms for the development of the economy gave rise to a reduction in reserves of clean water, shallowing of mountain and transboundary rivers, the decrease in fish populations, and the emergence of a real threat of a water ecological crisis in the republic. The obtained theoretical results of the study can be applied when discussing and significantly improving the environmental issues of water resources in the country.