Battered Waters

Anush Babajanyan

The collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s left the countries of Central Asia facing serious environmental challenges and a lack of coordination over shared water resources. In response to the region’s growing water crisis, and to visualise the realities of water management, I travelled to four Central Asian countries. Upstream Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan control the flow of the region’s two major rivers, which sustain downstream Uzbekistan and water-scarce Kazakhstan.

Today, around 67 million people live in this landlocked region—roughly the size of Europe—relying on its rivers and glaciers as their primary sources of water. At the same time, climate change is intensifying pressures across all four nations, accelerating environmental degradation and uncertainty.

This project tells the story of Central Asia’s environmental crisis through its landscapes and its people, revealing the visible consequences of climate change already unfolding in this often-overlooked region.

Zapadnyy Suek

Ak-Kyya

Kaji-Say

Kara-Köl

Toktogul

Nurislam

Kyzyl-Beyit

Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan Border

Tuyuksu

Aral Sea

Mirny

Local Titanic

Karateren

Aral

Zeravshan

Tastubek

Khujand

Rogun

Rogun Dam Visitors

Norak

Khojai A’lo

Istiqlol

Artemia

Moynaq

Amu Darya

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