Central Asia leaders call for joint policy on water issues

Central Asian leaders met in Kazakhstan Friday to seek to agree a shared policy on water management in a region where the scarce resource causes frequent disputes.

The way water access is shared in the Central Asian states has remained the same since the Soviet era and is fraught with problems: those countries with more water exchange it in return for electricity from the more energy-rich countries After three years of tensions, the Central Asian states are now trying to coordinate efforts in numerous areas, particularly water management, amid growing demand for agriculture and energy generation in a region with a population of around 80 million.