13th Working Group Meeting on Environmental Protection in Transboundary Water Management

The 13th Working Group Meeting on Environmental Protection under the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Chu-Talas Water Commission (the Commission) took place on 5 December 2025 in Almaty city. The meeting was supported and co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana (POiA) and the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek (POiB), in close co-operation with the Commission, which was established and mandate in 2006.

The meeting brought together 23 water, environment and disaster preparedness specialists and officials from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to discuss and share findings from hydrometeorological monitoring modalities, water quality laboratory testing, and water sampling activities in 2025. The meeting concluded with the Commission adopting a work plan for 2026 that includes mutually agreed seasonal water sampling, hydrodynamic modeling of flooding processes on the Chu and Talas rivers, environmental awareness and education activities, and topics to be discussed at the 14th Working Group Meeting in Bishkek in 2026. 

The Commission’s work has been supported by the OSCE Programme Offices in Bishkek and Astana, as a multi-year effort to facilitate the provision of this intergovernmental platform, enhance capacities of relevant State institutions in the area of water governance, advance, transboundary dialogue on managing water resources, and strengthen confidence-building among neighbouring OSCE participating States.