evidence: Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan share the waters of the Syr Darya River. The transboundary river rises in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, and flows through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. As climate change alters water availability in the region, claims over the resource have become increasingly fraught, particularly in the fertile and economically important Ferghana Valley region, which spans the territories of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Upstream Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan lack energy security but have plentiful water for hydropower in high-altitude reservoirs. Meanwhile Uzbekistan has gas and electricity but relies on a steady supply of water for food security. Over the past 30 years competing demands for water led to tensions, particularly under former Uzbek president Islam Karimov. Throughout the 1990s, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (along with other Central Asian countries) signed more than eight agreements pledging to work together and raise the level of water cooperation. In recent years, however, expert commentators say these efforts have intensified – particularly as water scarcity grows in the Ferghana Valley.