Kyrgyzstan’s Prime Minister Akylbek Zhaparov said during a visit to China this week that his nation is prepared to begin exporting drinking water made from its glaciers to Beijing.
The comments noting the unrealized potential of his nation’s water resources were made during a meeting between Zhaparov and Wang Da, the chairman of Qingdao Laoshan Mineral Water Company.
Zhaparov said, “We stand at the source of glaciers and are ready to export clear drinking water to China, European and Asian countries,” adding his nation could greatly benefit from Laoshan Mineral Water Company’s experience in the field.
Laoshan is a major drink manufacturer and distributor, selling bottled water, bulk water in barrels, and soft drinks.
Wang Da noted he was interested in the possibility of importing Kyrgyzstani water to China, bottling it, and then exporting it to European markets. After their meeting the parties agreed to have further talks to advance the idea into a plan of action.
China has long had difficulty acquiring enough water to supply its massive population. According to data from Earth.org, the nation has 20% of the world’s population, but it only has access to 6% of the freshwater in the world.
China’s water supply is also being impacted by both climate change and industrial pollution. Chinese government data shows that between 2000 and 2015, the country’s total water use increased by 9%, as wastewater emissions increased by over 50%.
More recently, Beijing has introduced conservation measures to save water, including a “sponge city” project which is designed to capture and recycle rainwater, as well as enhancements to the nation’ distribution systems across its varied regions.
There are more than 9,900 glaciers in Kyrgyzstan, fed by eternal snows which cover about 6,680 square kilometers, according to satellite image data from the United Nations Development Program. Roughly 3.3% of the total surface area of the nation is made up of glaciers which, according to estimates contain roughly 159 trillion gallons of water.
However, the nation also often suffers from water shortages, partly due to inadequate water distribution systems, and partly due to the fact glaciers must melt for the water to be available, and that makes their supply weather dependent. Several neighborhoods in the capital of Bishkek were forced to ration water recently, due to cold temperatures, which led to a lack of thawing of the glaciers That meant the water levels in the Orto-Alysh water well which supplies the city fell to extraordinarily low levels.
