Today, the official launch of the Early Warning System (EWS) for mudflow hazard in the Talgar River basin took place in Almaty. The system was developed and installed under the UNESCO–Adaptation Fund regional project “Reducing Vulnerabilities of Populations in Central Asia Region from Glacier Lake Outburst Floods in a Changing Climate” (GLOFCA) in cooperation with the State Institution “Kazselezashchita” of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan. During the launch, the UNESCO Regional Office in Almaty formally handed over the installed system to Kazselezashchita.
As a UN agency with a mandate in the field of science, UNESCO places particular emphasis on strengthening disaster risk reduction measures and early warning systems – this is a central part of our work. That is why we are especially pleased to launch an early warning system here, in the Talgar River basin. For such a mudflow-prone area, the system means more time for people to reach safety, and more time for Kazselezashchita to respond quickly.
The Talgar River basin is one of the most mudflow-prone areas of the Almaty region and one of the pilot sites of the GLOFCA project. Its upper reaches contain 24 glacial lakes, three of which – Lake No. 8, Lake No. 10, and Lake No. 19 – are classified in the highest category of mudflow hazard. It is on these three lakes, as well as along the riverbed, that automated monitoring stations – the key components of the EWS – have been installed.
