According to Torobaev, as part of efforts to reduce water losses in the Second Big Chui Canal (BChK), negotiations for financing with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have been successfully completed. Currently, preparations are underway for an agreement on the concreting of the water supply canal of the Western branch.
The project has an estimated cost of about 37 million euros. Currently, irrigation water losses in the BChK amount to 50–55 percent. Concreting the canal will significantly reduce these losses and ensure effective irrigation of agricultural lands.
Moreover, concreting will prevent water from filtering into the soil and moving through underground layers, which will help drain marshy lands in the lower zone of the canal.
This will create new opportunities for utilizing these areas in agriculture, including the development of horticulture, as well as allow for the development of land for construction and the establishment of new settlements near existing ones.
