15 July 2013: The World Bank Nura River Clean-up Project has effectively eliminated mercury pollution and implemented flood management control in the Nura River Basin located in Kazakhstan. Based on pollution sampling and mapping, the project eliminated over 2,000,000 tons of contaminated materials generated by a carbide factory that used mercury to produce rubber.

The project concluded in 2011 with the safe disposal in a hazardous waste landfill of over 1,000,000 m3 of polluted soil. As a consequence, only clean water has been reaching the villages of the Nura River, a major water course in northeast-central Kazakhstan. Another main contribution of the project is the rehabilitation of the Intumak Reservoir and the construction of village protection dams, which contributed to avoid seasonal floods in the villages around the area.

Beyond improving the welfare of the people, improved water quality allowed the Korgalzhyn wetlands to become a shelter for endangered species, such as the pink flamingo. [World Bank Press Release] [Kazakhstan – Nura River Clean-up Project]