10:07, 10 сентября 2019, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Maria ORLOVA
At least 115 fresh groundwater deposits have been explored and accounted in Kyrgyzstan. Draft Concept for Development of Mining Industry and Protection of Subsoil in Kyrgyzstan for 2019-2024 says. The State Committee for Industry, Energy and Subsoil Use submitted the document for public discussion.
About 420 licenses for extraction of groundwater have been issued.
«In 90 percent, the right to use subsoil resources belongs to local companies. Control over this process is insufficient, there are many cases of unauthorized water intake from wells. Often, water volumes are not measured by devices, and accordingly, the royalty collection mechanism provided for by the Tax Code has not been set up,» the document says.
The committee notes that the population pays only for delivery, but not for the water itself. «As a result, high-quality drinking water is wastefully used for irrigation and technical needs,» the document says.
Almost all water resources have been explored in the southern regions of the republic, and they will unlikely grow in the future. There are unexplored resources in the north of the country.