Kazakhstan is discussing the implementation of an intelligent water management system designed to improve risk forecasting, reduce losses, and transition the industry to a new digital model, El.kz reports.

The necessity for such solutions is driven by growing water scarcity and climate risks. Reports indicate that up to 50% of glacier mass in the Tien Shan region has already been lost, while 44.3% of Kazakhstan's water resources originate outside the country.

Significant water loss within the distribution system remains a serious issue. Only 42% of withdrawn water reaches the user, and over 13,000 kilometers of irrigation canals still lack comprehensive accounting and digital monitoring.

Against this backdrop, Kazakhstan is proposing the development of the DeepBas project, or Deep Basin Spatiotemporal AI which is aimed to elevate water resource management to a qualitatively new level through big data analysis, predictive modeling, and AI-based decision-support tools.

A key component will be a National Digital Twin system for water resources. It is expected to enable the forecasting of water inflows and outflows, model drought and flood scenarios, distribute resources more accurately, and increase irrigation efficiency.

As noted by Akhylbek Kurishbayev, President of the National Academy of Sciences, Kazakhstan’s water management remains fragmented. According to him, the country requires a science-based intelligent system adapted to local hydrological, geographical, and transboundary conditions, rather than partial digitalization.

The Academy emphasizes that the problem lies not only in the water shortage itself but also in the lack of accurate data regarding its movement, losses, risks, and management opportunities. Consequently, the project aims to integrate data on surface and groundwater, climatic and hydrological observations, and the status of land resources and infrastructure into a single framework.

The next stage will involve a comprehensive scientific program detailing the system's architecture, methodological approaches, and key research areas. The implementation of DeepBas is expected to be a major step toward introducing advanced digital solutions into Kazakhstan's water management sector.