Elaboration of Systems Hydroecological Monitoring of Aral Sea Basin

Abstract

The Aral Sea basin contains more than hundred large rivers, located in Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. At present we have witnessed catastrophic anthropogenic influences on the Aral Sea basin. Aridness of our climate and human utilization of river waters had a drastic influence upon soil salinity and sea level and surface area of the Aral Sea. Drastic changes of biota in and around the lake occurred. Natural conditions such as plain relief, large amounts of easily soluble salts in the soil, high evaporation levels, and fine-granular soil texture with high capillary lead to secondary salinity increase, which pose immense stress upon the vegetation. Fertilizer application pollutes surface and underground water with nitrates, phosphates, and other agrochemicals. The mass application of mineral fertilizer predominantly for cotton growth penetrates deeper into the soil and reduces its quality. The waters from this land have negatively affected flora and fauna in the region, a fact which has aroused strong political concern. The largest rivers of the Aral Sea basin are Amudarya and Syrdarya. We concentrate our work program on these two streams because we expect to activate easily the control over the entire river systems by monitoring these two rivers at key positions. Besides, most of these key monitoring points lay in the territory of Uzbekistan.