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Central Asia to hold water summit Central Asia holds water summit
(about 10 hours later)
The presidents of five Central Asian states are due hold a summit in the Kazakh city of Almaty about water, the most contentious issue in the region. The leaders of the five Central Asian states are meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty to discuss one of the most contentious regional issues, water.
The annual forum includes all five founding members of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. Correspondents say that finding an agreement on water use is key to the stability of this ethnically diverse and potentially volatile region.
Water is a precious resource in semi-arid Central Asia. The two nations with extensive mountains, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, hold 80% of the region's water.
But since the Soviet Union's collapse Central Asian states have failed to find a successful regional approach for its management. But much of this is needed in the other three semi-arid states downstream.
Barter scheme Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan rely on water from their neighbours for their important cotton industries, as well as for agriculture.
The five Central Asian leaders, who have a poor record on co-operation, will be debating the region's most disputed issue. A Soviet-era system for sharing water has lapsed and the five states have been unable to devise a new one.
Drought and overuse have caused an ecological disaster in the Aral Sea, which has shrunk by 90% in recent decades. Ecological disaster
Upstream countries Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan hold almost 80% of all Central Asia's water resources in their mountains and reservoirs. The Central Asian leaders have a poor history of co-operation, according to the BBC Central Asian correspondent Rayhan Demetrie.
The three downstream states Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan need large amounts of water to irrigate their cotton and for other agricultural industries. They only meet infrequently and usually on the sidelines of other events.
In Soviet times a system of exchange enabled the five states to share water and energy resources such as electricity and gas. But water allocation is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, and drought and overuse have caused an ecological disaster in the Aral Sea, which has shrunk by 90% in recent decades.
But the barter scheme is no longer active. In Soviet times a system of exchange enabled the five states to share water and energy resources such as electricity and gas, but this barter scheme is no longer active.
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which suffer most during cold winters, have long been pursuing the construction of hydropower projects in their territories. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which suffer most from lack of electricity during the cold winters, have long been pursuing the construction of hydropower plants.
Uzbekistan fiercely opposes these projects saying the construction of hydropower stations and new damns would reduce the flow of water for cotton irrigation. But Uzbekistan fiercely opposes these projects, saying the construction of hydropower stations and new dams would reduce the flow of water for cotton irrigation downstream.
Russia, which has an interest in regional water resources, has not been invited. While the summit is mainly about water, some attention will also be focused on the fact that Uzbek President Islam Karimov is there at all.
Mr Karimov, one of the region's most reclusive leaders, does not usually travel abroad, and his country is often singled out for criticism for its human rights abuses and repressive regime.