Lake Balkhash is getting smaller. Will it follow suit of the Aral Sea? The international organizations sound the alarm and warn of a possible crisis that may impact not only Kazakhstan, but Central Asia as a whole.

?We fear that the Balkhash may follow suit of the Aral Sea. The amount of water flowing into it has been steadily decreasing,? says Fikret Acura, permanent representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kazakhstan. According to a report published by a Kazakh newspaper ?Megapolis?, the lake has shrunk by more than 2,000 square kilometers as by the latest data.

Why does the water level in Central Asia?s second largest lake keep dropping? Is it doomed just like the Aral Sea, the biggest one in Central Asia? Lake Balkhash is a beautiful lake in NE Kazakhstan, some 400 kilometers NW of Alma Ata. It?s 40 times larger than Lake of Geneva. Yet the future of the Balkahsh now looks as bleak as that of the Aral Sea, the one that was the world?s fourth largest lake in the past. Kazakhstan must strike a deal with China to avert the disaster. The river Ili flowing from NE China brings most of the water to the Balkhash. The number of the Chinese in that region has been continuously growing over the last few years. Much more water is being taken from the river month by month to meet the needs of the ongoing growth of agriculture and industry in the area.