BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 12. Kazakhstan will
allocate 5 billion tenge ($10.6 million) from its Special State
Fund to build a water pipeline from the Sarybulak groundwater
deposit to Aktobe, adding up to 70,000 cubic meters of daily water
capacity for the region.


According to the government of Kazakhstan, the funds will
finance the drilling and development of 20 artesian wells at the
Sarybulak deposit, located 56 km from Aktobe, as well as the
construction of a pipeline connecting the source with the city’s
water supply network.


Once commissioned, the project will supply up to 70,000 cubic
meters of water per day to Aktobe and the Alga and Mugalzhar
districts. Up to 25,000 cubic meters per day will be directed
specifically to the growing Batys-1, Batys-2 and Batys-3
residential districts. The Sarybulak deposit has proven reserves
sufficient to provide water supply for the region for 30 years. The
project is expected to address existing capacity constraints.
Currently, the expansion of residential construction in several
districts is limited by available water infrastructure, with
additional supply needed to support future connections.


The initiative is part of Kazakhstan’s broader use of returned
assets for public infrastructure. Since 2024, the Special State
Fund has approved financing for more than 500 social projects worth
610 billion tenge ($1.3 billion). Of these, 267 projects worth
226.5 billion tenge ($482 million) are related to water
infrastructure.


At the same time, Kazakhstan is expanding efforts to improve
water efficiency, particularly in agriculture, where water
management remains a key development priority.


A pilot irrigation modernization project supported by the
Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources and
Irrigation is testing modern irrigation technologies that could
later be scaled across Kazakhstan and other Central Asian
countries.


According to an EDB Analytical Department, the $5.3 million
initiative will establish demonstration sites for modern irrigation
systems, including plastic pipelines and drip irrigation solutions,
in Kazakhstan’s southern and eastern agricultural regions,
including Almaty, Zhambyl, Kyzylorda, Turkestan and Zhetysu
regions.


"The project will show which technologies work best in local
conditions, what technical standards are required, what skills
farmers and water-sector specialists need, and how equipment can be
installed, operated and serviced at scale," the bank told Trend.







The initiative also aims to develop local expertise, with at
least 180 specialists expected to receive training. According to
the EDB, Kazakhstan’s experience could later support the
development of a regional irrigation technology industry.


The bank estimates that Central Asian countries currently spend
$140-320 million annually on imported irrigation equipment, while
demand for up to 2 million new irrigation systems by 2040 could
create a potential market of around $426 million per year for
locally produced solutions.


Trend’s analysis
shows that the Sarybulak project illustrates how Kazakhstan’s water
policy is moving beyond individual infrastructure upgrades toward a
broader approach combining new water sources, network expansion and
more efficient consumption.


Trend’s
calculations based on standard urban water consumption norms of
approximately 300 liters per person per day show that 70,000 cubic
meters of additional daily capacity could theoretically serve
around 233,000 residents. At the announced project cost of $10.6
million, this represents approximately $45 per person served,
highlighting the efficiency of large-scale centralized water
infrastructure.


The Batys districts context is particularly significant. Similar
to the Shu gas distribution project funded through the Special
State Fund, the Sarybulak pipeline addresses an infrastructure
limitation affecting further urban development. Additional water
capacity will allow residential expansion to continue and remove a
key constraint for future construction activity.


The concentration of Special State Fund resources in water
infrastructure - more than half of approved projects by number -
reflects the growing importance of water security for Kazakhstan.
Rapid urban growth, expanding industrial activity and agricultural
demand are increasing pressure on existing water systems, making
both new supply projects and efficiency improvements increasingly
important. The use of returned assets for such projects also
creates a direct link between asset recovery mechanisms and public
infrastructure development, directing recovered funds toward
services with visible social impact.


The combination of projects such as the Sarybulak pipeline and
the EDB-supported irrigation initiative suggests that Kazakhstan is
pursuing a dual-track water strategy: increasing available supply
where infrastructure gaps exist while improving the efficiency of
water use across key sectors of the economy.