Abstract
Many years ago a major macro-project was proposed by Russian scientists to divert water from major Siberian rivers and use this water to irrigate the steppes of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. At that time the plan was dismissed as megalomaniac, and it was proclaimed that it would have dire implications for the climate. Since then the runoffs from the two rivers that feed into the Aral Sea, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya have been used to irrigate the steppes. This has made Uzbekistan (and to a lesser degree Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan) one of the leading cotton producers in the world, at the cost, however, of causing the Aral Sea (which is an endorheic lake) to evaporate and transform into a dusty salt plain. Ironically, it has led indeed to a climate change for the worse, as the winter rains have become scarcer in the region.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Blagov S (2002) Russian water on troubled soils. Asian Times, December 18
Blinov LK (1962) The physico-chemical properties of Caspian waters and their comparable characteristics. Trudi Gos Okeanograf Inst (GOIN) 68:7–28
Boomer I, Aladin N, Plotnikov I, Whatley R (2000) The palaeolimnology of the Aral Sea: a review. Quat Sci Rev 19:1259–1278
Cathcart RB (2008) Aral Sea refill: seawater importation macroproject. http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Aral_Sea_refill.html. Accessed 15 December 2008
Davies BR, Thoms M, Meador M (1992) An assessment of the ecological impacts of inter-basin water transfers, and their threats to river basin integrity and conservation. Aquat Conserv Mar Freshw Ecosyst 2:325–349
Davydov MM (1949) The Ob’-Aral-Caspian water connection. Gidrotekhnicheskoye Stroitelstvo 3:6–11
Duke DF (2006) Seizing favours from nature: the rise and fall of Siberian River diversion, pp. 3–34. In: Tvedt T, Jakobsson E (eds) A history of water: water control and river biographies. I.B. Tauris,  p 320
Ezekiel Water Project (2008) Tunnelling design and construction Methodologies. http://www.ezekielproject.org/estimate.shtml. Accessed 15 December 2008
Létolle R, Aladin N, Filipov I, Boroffka NGO (2005) The future chemical evolution of the Aral Sea from 2000 to the years 2050. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change 10:51–70
Liu C, Zheng H (2002) South-to-north water transfer schemes for China. J Arid Environ 18:453–471
Micklin PP (2007) The Aral Sea disaster. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 35:47–72
Micklin P, Aladin NV (2008) Reclaiming the Aral Sea. Sci Am 298:64–71
Paustovsky K (1932) Kara-Bugaz (Black Gulf, English translation in Hyperion Press, Westport, Conn. 1977)
Pearce F (2004) Russia reviving massive river diversion plan. New Scientist, February 2004
Peterson BJ, Holmes RM, McClelland JW, Vorosmarty CJ, Lammers RB, Shiklomanov AI, Shiklomanov IA, Rahmstorf S (2002) Increasing river discharge to the Arctic Ocean. Science 298:2171–2173
Salay J (1988) The Soviet Union river diversion project. From plan to cancellation, 1976–1986. Research Report no 17, Uppsala papers in economic history, 30 pp
Savoskul OS, Chevnina EV, Perziger FI, Vasilina LYu, Baburin VL, Danshin AI, Matyakubov B, Murakaev RR (2003) Water, climate, food, and environment in the Syr Darya Basin, contribution to the project ADAPT, Adaptation strategies to changing environments, July 2003. In: Savoskul OS (ed) Project funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Schuiling RD, Andriessen PAM, Frapporti G, Kreulen R, de Leeuw JW, Poorter RPE, de Smeth JB, Vergouwen AA, Vriend SP, Zuurdeeg BW (1994) Introduction to geochemistry, 6th edn. Delft University Press, Delft, Â p 350
Schuiling RD, Badescu V, Cathcart RB, Seoud J, Hanekamp J (2007) Power from closing the Red Sea: economic and ecological costs and benefits following the isolation of the Red Sea. Int J Glob Environ Issues 7(4):341–361
Svitoch AA (2008) The Khvalynian transgression of the Caspian Sea and the New-Euxinian basin of the Black Sea. Water Resour 35:165–170
Vijayan J, Schultz G (2007) Experiences with interbasin water transfers for irrigation drainage and flood management. International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), India
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schuiling, R.D., Badescu, V. (2010). Aral Sea Rehabilitation with Irtysh Imports. In: Badescu, V., Cathcart, R. (eds) Macro-engineering Seawater in Unique Environments. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14779-1_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14779-1_17
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-14778-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-14779-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)