From 22 to 26 June 2026, experts from hydrosolutions and OiEau joined Kyrgyzstan's Water Resources Service (WRS) and basin-level partners in Bishkek for a lively week of training, workshops and hands-on basin planning. The Water Use Permits Kyrgyzstan project, supported by SDC, is building Central Asia's first EU-Water-Framework-Directive-compliant basin characterisation as the foundation for a transparent water use permitting system in the Chu-Talas basin, home to some two million people.
A headline result was the submission of the first sections of the Chu River Basin Plan — a first milestone on the way to completing the full plan by the end of 2026. The timing matters: Kyrgyzstan's new Water Code came into force in January 2026, treating water use as a permit-based, chargeable service for the first time — precisely the system the Chu Basin Plan is designed to underpin. A training seminar for the Chu Basin Water Resources Management Department connected the new legislation with basin planning and local water use permits.
hydrosolutions contributed technical and coordination support throughout, helping weave basin planning, permitting, data management and stakeholder engagement into one coherent process. Our bilingual team member Aidar Zhumabaev played a key bridging role, keeping communication flowing between Kyrgyz partners and European experts and making technical discussions smoother.
The mission also brought together the Kyrgyz Water Resources Service, SDC, CAREC and other stakeholders to gather feedback on the Basin Plan — strengthening the partnership and keeping the path to a completed Chu Basin Plan clearly in view.
