It is fair to say none of the parties lived up to that agreement. Kyrgyzstan allowed a reservoir to fill too high last summer. It later flooded, leaving 80 people dead in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan, in turn, says Kyrgyzstan owes it for past deliveries of natural gas and has shut off gas pipelines four times in six months. Kazakhstan has not shipped coal to Kyrgyzstan as it was obliged to do.
Water is logically Kyrgyzstan's trump card, but it also sets a dangerous precedent.
Threatening to leave two major agricultural regions of Kazakhstan without water as summer nears has apparently proven to be an effective means for Kyrgyzstan to make Kazakhstan deliver coal. But in a region familiar with the phrase ''water is life,'' it is also a tactic that may significantly strain ties.