On 11 November, a regional meeting on cooperation in water quality management in Amu Darya River Basin was held in Tashkent, bringing together representatives of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The meeting was organised as part of an initiative to establish a Regional Working Group on Water Quality in the Amu Darya River Basin.
During the meeting, representatives of the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in monitoring and managing surface water quality in the basin and expressed their readiness to engage more closely within the framework of the future Regional Working Group.
Participants discussed existing national monitoring systems, the exchange of experiences and information, improving data comparability, strengthening laboratory capacities and identifying common technical processes. Issues related to tailings storage facility safety and the prevention of accidental water pollution were also addressed.
The meeting marked a starting point for further discussions on the establishment of the Regional Working Group, identifying its priority areas and mechanisms for cooperation at both regional and national levels.
Strengthening cooperation on surface water quality will contribute to the sustainable management of shared water resources including the protection of aquatic ecosystems across the region.
