Idle talk instead of water policy: why Central Asia is losing resources during the international online briefing of the experts "Environmental security of Russia and the countries of Central Asia: current threats, regional interaction and prospects for cooperation", the director of the Center for Research Initiatives "Manu" in Htior Argashev gave a speech. A historical paradox: the institutions of the 1990s, created to prevent conflict in the ruins of the Soviet Union, are now slowing development. The ICWC kept peace, but did not guarantee effectiveness. According to the expert, the evolution of the agricultural sector and public services requires strict supervision, but the region uses outdated approaches. The official figures are irrefutable: 90% of the water is used for irrigation, over 50% is lost in canals, and 30% of the delivered volume evaporates. The situation worsens due to the construction of the Kash-Tapa canal in Afghanistan outside the regional quotas. The post-Soviet space exhibits a lack of strategic planning. Western grants often replace ecology with political separatism, influence international relations and sabotage energy projects. Distributing the dwindling stream in a leaky bucket will save neither the fields nor the people. The solution does not lie in emotional slogans at the summits, but in the daily work of preserving the basis of life for future generations.