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Home , Aksu (Lake Balkhash), Arys (river), Charyn, Chilik (river), Chundzha, Chu (river)

Water Resources Lifeblood of the Region

68 Central Atlas of Natural Resources ater has long been the fundamental helped the region flourish; on the other, , concern of ’s air, land, and have been degraded. peoples. Few parts of the region are naturally water endowed, In this chapter, major river basins, inland seas, Wand it is unevenly distributed geographically. lakes, and reservoirs of Central Asia are presented. This scarcity has caused people to adapt in both The substantial economic and ecological benefits positive and negative ways. Vast power projects they provide are described, along with the threats and schemes have diverted most of facing them—and consequently the threats the water flow, transforming terrain, ecology, facing the economies and ecology of the country and even climate. On the one hand, powerful themselves—as a result of human activities. electrical grids and rich agricultural areas have

The River in , , with a canal (left) taking water to irrigate cotton fields.Upper right: Irrigation lifeline, main canal in Makktaaral Rayon in South Kasakhstan Oblast, . Lower right: The River in the Lake basin, Kazakhstan.

Water Resources 69 50°0'N 40°0'N Kilometers 1:10 000 000 National capital International boundary Rivers and canals Amu Darya Balkhash-Alakol - DaryaSyr Chui- Zarafshan 100 2 1 OF River basins River 200 0 200 Boundaries are not necessarily authoritative. not necessarily Boundaries are PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC PEOPLE’S Data sources: Conservation Union, the International World IUCN-The Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar Water Institute (WRI). Resources World and the Bureau, Convention World_CD. of the Watersheds 2003. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/index.html , ServiceNational Hydro-meteorological of 2003 , Tajikistan, Map of Main Basins in River Map of Main River Basins in Institute Kazgiprovodhoz, Kazakhstan, 2004 , GIS-Service by 2009 Updated Ltd., Conic LambertProjection: Conformal Datum: WGS 1984 GIS/Cartography: 2009 Republic, Sibagatulin, GIS-Service Kyrgyz Ltd., V.

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70 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources River Basin Facts Amu Darya Lake Balkhash Chui-Talas Ob-Irtysh Ural Zarafshan Central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Tajikistan, in basin Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz Republic, Kyrgyz Republic Uzbekistan Tajikistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Source Pianj and and , , , Chui River, fed Irtysh River (chief Ural River Most upstream rivers, fed largely Karadarya rivers , Chui-, mainly by tributary of the weir of the by water from Kapal, rivers and melting snow; Ob); and irrigation system melted snow and Talas River, (tributaries for the Karakul formed by the of the Irtysh River). Oasis, considered confluence of the the “mouth” of the Karakol and Zarafshan River Uchkosha rivers. Recipient Aral Sea Aral Sea Lake Balkhash Desert sink Arctic Ocean Caspian Sea Desert sink Basin area (square 534,739 782,617 512,015 Chui: 62,500, 1,673,470 244,334 12,200 kilometers) Talas: 52,700 Total: 115,200 Share of irrigated 0.4 5.4 1.9 Chui: 3.0, Talas: 3.0, 3 0.9 No data cropland Total: 6.0 (% of basin area)

Sources: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar Convention Bureau, and the World Resources Institute (WRI). 2003. Watersheds of the World. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/index.html United Nations Economic Commission for 2007. Our : Joining Hands Across Borders. www.unece.org/env/water/publications/pub76.htm ADB. 2007. Final Report—RETA 6163: Improved Management of Shared Water Resources in Central Asia. Volume I: Improving Trans-Boundary Water Management on a Pilot Basis (Chui and Talas River Basins). Manila.

The Ural River in West Kazakhstan. River Basins significant volumes to water resources, but it also takes salts and pollutants into the rivers, reducing Seven major basins feed the region: the Amu the productivity of natural land areas, rivers, and Darya, Balkhash, Chui and Talas, Ob and Irtysh, reservoirs. Syr Darya, Ural, and Zarafshan. Most water resources come from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya Global climate change has also affected the river rivers, along whose banks farmers have planted for basins throughout Central Asia. Mountain glaciers millennia. are gradually melting and resulting in significant changes in river flows as well as changing the Over the past century, the nature of these rivers has ecology of the basins themselves. changed as a result of increasing human activities. Large dams and reservoirs in upstream parts of Flood damage, both from melt and the Amu Darya and Syr Darya have significantly untimely release of waters from reservoirs for affected downstream flow regimes. Diversion hydropower generation, is a serious transboundary of huge volumes of water for agriculture and problem. Cooperative water management industry further changed the hydrological regimes among the region’s five countries is key to downstream and diminished river deltas. protecting water resources. It must provide for the sustainable, multipurpose use of transboundary Renewable forms naturally in watercourses for such vital interests as irrigation, catchment areas and by filtration in irrigated urban/communal water supply, hydropower, and lands. The return flow from fields to rivers adds fishing.

Water Resources 71 Amu Darya River Basin Facts AMU DARYA RIVER BASIN Basin area (square 534,739 kilometers) The Amu Darya River, called the Oxus in the Average population 39 ancient Greek period, begins in Tajikistan as the density (people per confluence of the Pianj River (which begins in square kilometer) Afghanistan and forms its border with Tajikistan Cities (100,000 9 (Bukhara, Chadzhev, Dushanbe, more people) Kashi, Mazar-E Sharif, Navoi, for several hundred kilometers) and Vakhsh Nuku, , ) River (which begins in the Kyrgyz Republic). The Amu Darya basin—534,700 square kilometers Land Cover and Use Area, % basin area in all—unfolds westward from the mountains of Forest 0.1 the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, descending Grassland, savanna, 57.3 and contracting into the of and shrubland Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as the river arcs Wetlands 0.0 gradually clockwise to the southern end of the Cropland 22.4 Aral Sea, a total distance of 2,400 kilometers. The Irrigated cropland 7.5 river splits into a delta with numerous arms as it Dryland 77.8 Upper: The Amu Darya River shortly approaches the Aral Sea. But in dry years since before drying out in the Aral Sea in the 1960s, its waters, exhausted from diversion for Urban and 3.7 Moynaq town, former fishing port on the Industrial Aral Sea, now 180 km from the sea. irrigation, do not reach the sea. Loss of original 98.6 Lower: Water comes to the desert with the Karakum Canal; photo taken in the forest cover 1970s. Near the river’s entrance into Turkmenistan, the Soviets built the Karakum Canal, the longest such Economy Agriculture: cotton, wheat, structure in the world, that takes a third of the rice, silkworm breeding, cattle breeding. Industry: hydropower, Amu Darya’s water and sends it to the parched mining and aluminum processing, southwestern parts of Turkmenistan to irrigate chemical industry, light industry. expanding cotton-growing areas. Environmental Issues Heavy disturbance by water management activities in Surkhan Various other transboundary rivers, including the Darya tributary. Sarez Lake is a potential threat to population Pamir, Kafirnigan, Surkhan Darya, and (formerly) living near the middle and lower Zarafshan rivers, flow into the Amu Darya basin. Amu Darya. Mineralization as a result of discharge of collector- All the rivers in the basin influence the system to drainage waters. Soil , some extent. Some of the Pianj River’s water, for decreased soil fertility. . example, is diverted for irrigation. Its catchment Sources: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar Convention includes the dangerous Sarez Lake, described Bureau, and the World Resources Institute (WRI). 2003. Watersheds of below. On the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan, the the World. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/index.html United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Our Waters: Joining Hands planned extension of a mining and aluminum Across Borders. 2007. www.unece.org/env/water/publications/ processing plant in Tursunzade could have pub76.htm

72 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources 62°0'E 72°0'E Aral Sea

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Amu Darya Basin 1:7 000 000 National capital 10050 0 100 200 Provincial/oblast capital Kilometers Rivers and canals International boundary Hydropower plant < 1 million kilowatts Data sources: IUCN-The World Conservation Union, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar Convention Bureau, and the 1–3 million kilowatts World Resources Institute (WRI). 2003. Watersheds of the World_CD. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/index.html. Updated by GIS-Service Ltd., 2009 Under construction or suspended Projection: Equidistant Conic Amu Darya River Basin Datum: WGS 1984

GIS/Cartography: V. Sibagatulin, GIS-Service Ltd., Kyrgyz Republic, 2009 Boundaries are not necessarily authoritative.

repercussions on users downstream, not least river and Karakum Canal, and almost complete because a large reservoir is needed for hydropower silting up of the Kalif lakes. The average capacity to run the plant. of the canal and the reservoirs on the river has fallen by more than half as a result. The sediments As the Amu Darya travels through Turkmenistan also damage irrigation infrastructure. The new and then Uzbekistan, it receives returned water Zeid reservoir is expected to take up much of the from irrigation and groundwater, which add sedimentation in the Karakum Canal. But there pollutants from agriculture ( and are other issues: parts of the canal have not been fertilizer), industry (toxic chemicals), and domestic maintained and huge losses from seepage and sources. Health problems from drinking the water leakage occur; also the flood approach to irrigation are common. results in salinization of the soil and returned water to the canal. Soil erosion from upstream countries causes sediments to build up downstream along the

Water Resources 73 Syr Darya River Basin Facts Basin area 782,700 (of which 218,400 are (square kilometers) in Kazakhstan) Average population 26 density (people per square kilometer) Cities (100,000 11 (Andizhan, Bishkek, Dhambul, or more people) Dzhizak, Fergana, Kyzyl Orda, , Osh, Shymkent, Tashkent, Zhezkazgan)

Land Cover and Use Area, % basin area Forest 2.4 Grassland, savanna, 67.4 and shrubland Wetlands 2.0 Cropland 22.2 Irrigated cropland 5.4 Dryland 93.7 Urban and 3.2 industrial Upper: The meandering Syr Darya SYR DARYA RIVER BASIN River in the Kyzyl Orda region, Loss of original 45.4 Kazakhstan. Lower: Sunset along the forest cover Syr Darya River near the city of Kyzyl The Syr Darya River has its origins in the Fergana Orda. Economy Agriculture: cotton, wheat, Valley, where two large rivers—the Naryn and rice; cattle breeding. Industry: Karadarya—that flow down from the Tien Shan hydropower, manufacturing, Mountains in the Kyrgyz Republic into Uzbekistan, chemical industry, light industry. meet in the eastern part of the valley in Uzbekistan. Environmental Issues Changing hydrological river regime. From Tajikistan, the Syr Darya enters Kazakhstan Soil salinity, decreased soil fertility. Drought. In downstream, frequent where it makes a long counterclockwise arc into flooding of human settlements the northeastern edge of the Aral Sea, marking the during winter. Water pollution by industrial wastewater and northeasterly edge of the . agriculture in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Mineralization as The Syr Darya basin covers some 800,000 square a result of discharge of collector- drainage waters. kilometers, over the river’s course, a distance of Sources: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), about 2,200 kilometers. However, only a quarter the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar of that area provides water into the system and Convention Bureau, and the World Resources Institute (WRI). 2003. Watersheds of the World. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/ its annual flow of roughly 37 cubic kilometers is index.html small compared to that of its sister, the Amu Darya United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2007. Our Waters: Joining Hands Across Borders. www.unece.org/env/water/publications/ (97 cubic kilometers), which has a smaller basin area. pub76.htm

74 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources 65°0'E 75°0'E

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Provincial/oblast capital Kilometers Rivers and canals International boundary Hydropower plant Data source: IUCN-The World Conservation Union, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar Convention Bureau, < 1 million kilowatts and the World Resources Institute (WRI). 2003. Watersheds of the World_CD. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/index.html Updated by GIS-Service Ltd., 2009 1–3 million kilowatts Projection: Equidistant Conic Under construction or suspended Datum: WGS 1984

Syr Darya River Basin GIS/Cartography: V. Sibagatulin, GIS-Service Ltd., Kyrgyz R epublic, 2009

Boundaries are not necessarily authoritative.

In the basin headwaters, the Naryn River already The Syr Darya’s course is punctuated by contains pollutants from industrial and domestic hydropower stations and large reservoirs, such as wastes, discharges from livestock breeding, and the Kajrakkum and Chardarin. Much of its water is wastes from ore mining. The Syr Darya’s waters used for irrigating the major cotton-growing areas change further as they pass through the Fergana of the region. Nevertheless, downstream flooding Valley. In both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, industrial occurs in winter, particularly in Kyzyl Orda, wastewater and agricultural return water from Kazakhstan, due to water release from the Toktogul irrigation cause significant pollution, which only Reservoir in the Kyrgyz Republic for hydropower increases as the river continues through industrial production. Yet, floods become : there is Reservoir on the Naryn River, before it areas, croplands, and livestock breeding areas of sometimes not enough water to satisfy irrigation joins the Karadarya River to become the Kazakhstan. and other human needs. Syr Darya.

Water Resources 75 Above: Beach on Lake Balkhash contrasts with industry from the city of Lake Balkhash Water Basin Facts Balkhash. Lake Balkhash could face Basin area 512,015 a similar fate as the Aral Sea if water (square kilometers) management in flowing rivers is not improved. Right: Lake Balkhash seen Average population 11 from the space shuttle Discovery. density (people per square kilometer) Cities (100,000 2 (Almaty, Taldykorgan or more people) in Kazakhstan)

Land Cover and Use Area, % basin area Forest 4.0 Grassland, 61.1 savanna, and shrubland Wetlands 4.7 Cropland 23.2 Irrigated cropland 1.9 Dryland 94.5 Urban and 1.5 LAKE BALKHASH BASIN industrial Loss of original 26.3 Sharing its area rather equally between south- forest cover eastern Kazakhstan and northwestern People’s Republic of China, Lake Balkhash basin is one of Economy Agriculture: rice, cattle breeding, poultry, and pig farming. Mining. the planet’s largest lake . Its varying Environmental Issues Unsustainable water use. elevation levels are also the most diverse of any Desertification, loss of basin in Central Asia. Three major rivers in the agricultural lands and basin drain into crescent-shaped Lake Balkhash. productivity. Ecologically disruptive mining. High level Chief among them is the Ili, which provides 80% of of water pollution due to the lake’s river flow. Lake Balkhash is an important industrial wastes. Overall fishery and reservoir, and the Ili forms a large lake decline in biodiversity, declining ecosystems. delta with wetlands that are rich in biodiversity Sources: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and forage for animals. Other rivers, including the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar Convention Bureau, and the World Resources Institute (WRI). 2003. the Karatal, provide surface and subsurface flow. Watersheds of the World. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/ All help feed the more than 24,000 lakes and index.html Kreuzberg, E. 2005. Approach in Basin Management in Central reservoirs found in the basin. Asia: from Theory to Practice (on the Example of Ili-Balkhash basin). CAREC: Almaty. p2.

76 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources Lake Balkhash

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Prepared by C. Y. Ji, 2009 KAZAKHSTAN

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC UZBEKISTAN TAJIKISTAN PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

This ready supply of water has brought increasing hydrology of Lake Balkhash, compounded by agriculture and industry to the area. Today, more decreases in Ili River flow caused by increased than 3 million people live in the basin, over water use from an expanding population in 600,000 of them in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s business the parts of the basin in the People’s Republic center and former capital. Economic development of China. This has led to degradation of the has meant construction of dams and reservoirs, and lake’s coastal areas, and aquatic and wetland irrigation projects for hydropower, freshwater, and ecosystems. It is also resulting in diminishing lake irrigation. size and salinization, placing Lake Balkhash in jeopardy of becoming a second Aral Sea. Lake While there is more than enough water to support Balkhash plays an important role in maintaining current agricultural practices, the irrigation the region’s natural and climatic balance, and drainage systems used in Kazakhstan for making its protection a vital concern for all. growing rice and other crops have affected the

Water Resources 77 Upper left: A serene Chui River. Lower left: Irrigation canal in Chui oblast. CHUI AND TALAS RIVER BASINS Water quality of both surface and subsurface water Right: Rapids in the upper Chui River. in the basins is considered satisfactory, but the The Chui and Talas river basins rest within the basins are not without problems. Biodiversity is eastern section of the Turan depression and decreasing. There is soil erosion in foothill valleys northern Tien Shan Mountains. The Chui River and damage to riverbeds during flooding in the basin encloses 62,500 square kilometers, of which Kyrgyz Republic. Discharges of the Chui and 35,900 are in Kazakhstan and 26,600 in the Talas rivers have fallen in Kazakhstan, degrading Kyrgyz Republic. The length of the Chui Valley is delta lake systems, flood plains, and meadows. 1,186 kilometers (km), with 850 km in Kazakhstan. Pollution from domestic and livestock discharges, The Talas basin encloses 52,700 square mining and processing industries, and transport is kilometers—41,270 in Kazakhstan and 11,430 in also a factor. Projected increasing socioeconomic the Kyrgyz Republic. The Talas River is 444 km development in the region between 2010 and long, with 217 km in the Kyrgyz Republic. 2020 could result in decreased water availability and even water deficits, making it vital to begin The climate of the basins changes as the rivers planning and implementing measures to protect descend from an elevation of 2,400 meters in the resources of these important basins. highly mountainous and mountainous zones in the Kyrgyz Republic to mountainous Chui and Talas River Basin Facts steppe, desert-steppe, and desert zones at 500 meters elevation in Kazakhstan. Water Basin area Chui: 62,500 (square kilometers) Talas: 52,700 resources for the two basins come from surface, Total: 115,200 subsurface, and return waters, with average annual Average population 14 flows of 6.64 and 1.62 cubic kilometers for the density (people Chui basin and Talas basin, respectively. per square kilometer) Economy Agriculture. Industry: mining, The combined population of the basins is agricultural processing, construction enterprises. Hydropower, approximately 1.6 million, with a population underdeveloped. density in the Chui basin—which contains the Environmental Issues Deforestation, decrease in Kyrgyz Republic’s capital Bishkek—far higher biodiversity. Intensive soil erosion. than that in the Talas basin. Agriculture plays a Decreases in environmental discharges resulting in degradation dominant role in the economy of each basin. More of lake systems. Water pollution. than two-thirds of total agricultural production Worsening status of water protection come from irrigated lands, flood plains, and zones. Sources: ADB. 2007. Final Report - RETA 6163: Improved Management pastures. Agricultural processing, construction, and of Shared Water Resources in Central Asia Volume I: Improving Trans- mining are the primary industries. boundary Water Management on a Pilot Basis (Chui and Talas River Basins). Manila. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2007. Our Waters: Joining Hands Across Borders. www.unece.org/env/water/publications/ pub76.htm

78 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources OB BASIN AND IRTYSH SUB-BASIN Ob-Irtysh River Basin Facts Water basin area 1,673,470 The Ob River combines with its main tributary, the square kilometers) Irtysh, to form the Ob-Irtysh basin. This massive Average population 11 basin, which stretches from Mongolia to Western density (people per square kilometer) , empties into the Arctic Ocean. It falls Cities (100,000 12: Astana, Kamenogorsk/Oskemen mainly within the Russian Federation (73.8%), or more people) (Kazakhstan), Sverdlovsk (Ukraine), and Kazakhstan (24.7%), with the remaining (), Colyabinks, Kurgan, 1.5% in the People’s Republic of China and , Kokshetau, Petropavlovsk, , Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, Ust’, Mongolia. Included in the Ob basin is the Irtysh Astrakhan (Russia) sub-basin. The catchment within the sub-basin Land Cover and Use Area, % basin area marks Kazakhstan’s primary contribution to the Forest 17.0 greater basin. The Irtysh River, 4,248 kilometers in Upper: The Irtysh River in spring in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan; the Grassland, savanna 14.0 length, begins in Mongolia’s and Blagoveshchensky Cathedral in the and shrubland flows through the People’s Republic of China and background. Lower: The city of Astana Wetlands 7.7 behind the Ishim River embarkment. Kazakhstan (1,200 kilometers) before joining the The river is one of the tributaries of the Cropland 51.4 Ob River in the Russian Federation. The Irtysh is Irtysh River. fed by the Tobol and Ishim rivers, which begin in Irrigated cropland 3.0 Kazakhstan. Dryland — Urban and 5.4 Within Kazakhstan, the Irtysh is regulated by industrial large hydroelectric power stations and serves as Loss of original 52.0 a transportation artery for the country’s interior. forest cover Within the People’s Republic of China, the Irtysh Economy Agriculture. Oil and gas. is used for irrigation, which severely decreases its Hydroelectric power production. flow. A proposed 300-kilometer irrigation canal Water transport. there will further divert Irtysh water, and could Environmental Issues Decreased water flow because of high withdrawals for industry in the result in economic and ecological damage in the People’s Republic of China. Severe greater basin. water pollution from industry, mining, and agriculture. The Irtysh River is severely affected by pollution Sources: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar from irrigation, mining, and wastewater. And it Convention Bureau, and the World Resources Institute (WRI). 2003. Watersheds of the World. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/ is primarily for this reason that Kazakhstan and index.html the Russian Federation have embarked on joint United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2007. Our Waters: Joining Hands Across Borders. www.unece.org/env/water/publications/ projects to protect the river. Involving the People’s pub76.htm Republic of China in the management of Irtysh Kostarev, S. 2008. Russian-Kazakh Transboundary Water Management Skills (the Irtysh River Basin). Paper presented at the conference on Water waters is the next step. The Irtysh sub-basin is the Resource Systems Management under Extreme Conditions, Moscow, main source of water for central Kazakhstan and its 4–5 June. www.inbo-news.org/euro-riob/moscow/papers/2008_06_05_ ECWATEK_Kostarev.pdf health is essential to the well-being of the region.

Water Resources 79 Bridge over the Ural River at sunrise in , Kazakhstan. The Ural separates URAL BASIN increased in the 1990s, there seems to have been Europe from Asia. a slight decrease in pollution since 2000—a very The Ural basin comprises some 244,000 square good sign. kilometers—more than 60% of which is in Kazakhstan—and stretches from the headwaters of the Ural River in the southeastern Ural Water Basin Facts of the Russian Federation to Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea Depression. Of the Ural River’s 2,428 Water basin area (square 244,334 kilometers) kilometers length, nearly half, 1,082 kilometers, is Average population 15 in Kazakhstan. The basin includes about 240 lakes, density (people per plus the human-made Iriklin Reservoir, which has a square kilometer) surface area of 260 square kilometers and storage Cities (100,000 4: Atyrau, Uralsk, Aktyubinsk capacity of 3,260 cubic kilometers. or more people) (Kazakhstan), (Russia) Land Cover and Use Area, % basin area The basin’s living resources include the . Forest 2.3 As the only unregulated river flowing into Grassland, savanna 33.4 the Caspian Sea, the Ural River holds special and shrubland advantages for these prized fish. For one, there are Wetlands 0.2 no large dams or weirs, so migrating can Cropland 59.3 swim unobstructed to upstream breeding grounds. Irrigated cropland 0.9 For another, the river’s meandering course and Dryland 100 mostly natural floodplain offer ideal places for fish, especially sturgeon, to spawn. And it is why Urban and industrial 4.2 the transboundary Ural Basin Project has been Loss of original 32.3 forest cover set up to create and manage an International Ural Sturgeon Park. The park aims to preserve Economy Agriculture: fisheries. Industry: oil Ural sturgeon populations and provide a basis for and gas. restocking in other regions. Environmental Issues High water pollution due to industry, municipal wastewaters, and surface runoff during flooding. But the Ural River faces threats: major industrial Silting of Ural River mouth. pollution from the Russian Federation, and Poaching of sturgeon. wastewater discharge from the Kazakh cities of Sources: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the Ramsar Uralsk and Atyrau. Also contributing to pollution Convention Bureau, and the World Resources Institute (WRI). 2003. are surface water runoff, seepage from sewage Watersheds of the World. http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/ index.html ponds, and surface runoff from Caspian Sea oil Stolberg, F., O. Borysova, I. Mitrofanov, and P. Eghtesadi. 2006. Caspian sites. Somewhat mitigating this is spring snow melt, Sea, GIWA Global Regional Assessment. Kalmar, UNEP. www.giwa.net/ publications/r23.phtml which releases large quantities of water into the Anonymous. 2002. Identification of Priority Issues. InSeven Major River river to flush contaminants accumulated during Basins In Kazakhstan: Problem Identification And Prioritisation Workshop In Atyrau For The Ural-Caspian Basin Workshop Protocol. 9 August. the rest of the year. And though overall pollution www.worldbank.org/eca/kazakhstan/water/Ural_eng.pdf

80 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources ZARAFSHAN RIVER BASIN Zarafshan River’s waters—the only source of drinking water in the Samarkand area—have not The Zarafshan, or , River basin has the been managed well. Pollution from irrigation honor of being Central Asia’s most ancient seat return water and waste waters from cities, such as of agriculture; the region’s earliest cities were Samarkand, Kattakurgan, and Navoi, have reduced founded there. the water quality, while Uzbekistan’s irrigation systems are in urgent need of rehabilitation if But the nature of the Zarafshan River basin has agricultural productivity losses through increasing changed over the past half century. Formerly, it leakage and poor drainage are to be overcome. was a sub-basin of the Amu Darya basin but its This will become increasingly important in the connection was lost as more and more water from future because Tajikistan is planning to tap the the river and its 70 tributaries was diverted for upper reaches of the Zarafshan for hydropower Upper: A helicopter takes tourists irrigation. generation, which could further affect Uzbekistan’s over the frozen upper reaches of the agricultural output. Zarafshan. Lower: The Zarafshan River in Third largest river in Uzbekistan, the Zarafshan the Ayni district of Tajikistan. begins under the name of Mostchokh-Darya in a high glacier in Tajikistan and winds its way down the 180-kilometer long Zarafshan inter-mountain Zarafshan River Basin Facts depression. The river continues through Tajikistan Basin area (square 12,200* kilometers) for a further 120 kilometers and then flows through the Zarafshan Valley, in the Samarkand area of Average population Densely populated* density (people per Uzbekistan. square kilometer) Cities (100,000 Bukhara, Navoi, Samarkand Tajikistan uses only about 8% of the river’s or more people) discharge. Virtually all the remainder is Economy Agriculture (Uzbekistan). Industry: used to irrigate more than 600,000 hectares mining (Tajikistan). in Uzbekistan, supporting its second most Environmental issues Deterioration of water quality important agricultural center—in a country (high salinity, polluted waters) due to return water from irrigation and where agriculture is the main livelihood of the wastewaters from Samarkand, rural population. There are many dams and Kattakurgan, and Navoi. barrages along the way, and a great number of *It is difficult to determine the size of the catchment area; this estimate is based on total area of the mountain part of the catchment. canals for irrigation and water supply. Formerly, Sources: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. 2007. the river connected the cities of Samarkand, Our Waters: Joining Hands Across Borders. www.unece.org/env/water/ publications/pub76.htm Navoi, and Bukhara but now it no longer reaches Lal, R. et al. 2007. Climate Change and Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration in Bukhara. What water remains flows out into and Central Asia. Routledge. USA. is swallowed by the desert, and well before the Urchinov, Z.U. 1995. Fisheries in the Zarafshan River Basin. In FAO Fisheries Circular No. 894 FIRI/v9529. Rome. www.fao.org/docrep/V9529E/ Zarafshan can connect with the Amu Darya. v9529E06.htm

Water Resources 81 Above: Salt-encrusted wastelands from the present shore of the Aral Sea. Lower: A person standing on a cliff near Moynaq Two Inland Seas In some ways there are two Aral Seas: the Aral Sea town on the former shore of the Aral Sea, that was—the world’s fourth largest inland lake, now 180 km away. ARAL SEA and the Aral Sea that is—a shrunken that is gradually drying up. The Aral Sea that was Sharing its area with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, existed until the late 1950s. It covered an area of the Aral Sea was fed primarily by the Amu Darya 68,300 square kilometers, had a water surface and Syr Darya rivers. The Chui, Murgabi, Tadjen, of 66,100 square kilometers, a water volume of and Talas rivers are also part of the Aral Sea basin. 1,066 cubic kilometers, and was teeming with life. Their waters, however, are used for irrigation or It supported sea ports and a thriving commercial lost in the plains and never reach the Aral Sea. fishing industry, which peaked at an annual catch And little of the Amu Darya water reaches there; of 46,000 tons in the 1960s. most is diverted to irrigation, especially through the Karakum Canal in Turkmenistan. Formation of the Aral Sea that is began in the same decade, when much of the water from its primary tributaries, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, began to be diverted for power generation and irrigation for 7 million hectares of agricultural land—primarily planted to cotton. By the 1980s, water from the basins that feed these rivers was completely utilized and the Aral Sea began to shrink. By 1986, the sea had split into two bodies of water: the Big and Small seas. By 2002, water level in the Big Sea had fallen by 22 meters. By 2005, the Aral Sea had shrunk to half its former size and its water volume had diminished by 75%.

The incredible retreat of the Aral Sea shoreline has left towns and villages that were once thriving fishing ports stranded tens of kilometers inland. The once vibrant commercial fishing industry has virtually ceased to exist as reduced river flow to the Aral Sea, combined with pollutants from irrigation runoff, have killed plant and animal life, and left most of the sea virtually dead.

But the Small Sea, or , in Kazakhstan is now recovering, thanks to the 13-kilometer

82 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources Large fishing vessels lie beached on what was once the shore of the Aral Sea.

Water Resources 83 Aral Sea

60o0’0" ARALSK 62o30’0"

North Aral

Karashalan

46o0’0" Imeni Orozhonikidzel 46o0’0" NOVOKAZALINSK Oktyabr KAZALNSK Syr Darya River

KAZAKHSTAN

2009

Surface Water Area South Aral Prior to 1960 South Aral 2008 1989 1960 1989 2000 2007 2001 2000 2002 2001 2004 2006 2003 2005 2002 2003 2004 44o0’0" 2005 44o0’0" 2006 MUYNAK UZBEKISTAN 2007 2008 Amu Darya 2009 N 60o0’0" 62o30’0"

2010 0 20

Kilometers 1:2,500,000

City Town 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 International boundary

Boundaries of surface water area: Prior to 1960: IUCN Elevation and Rivers Dataset RUSSIAN FEDERATION 1989: Landsat TM 2000−2009: MOD IS KAZAKHSTAN Prepared by C. Y. Ji, 2009

UZBEKISTAN AZERBAIJAN TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN

IRAN AFGHANISTAN INDIA

Kokaral dam completed in 2005, to separate it from the rest of the sea, and hydrological improvements in Kazakhstan’s part of the Syr Darya River, which flows into the North Aral Sea. Four years later, the North Aral Sea surface area is already 50% higher than the lowest level and water is creeping back toward the former fishing town of Aral, 100 kilometers from the shore in 2005 and now only 35 kilometers away. There are plans for more dikes and canals to increase water levels further. Fish are returning and catches increasing dramatically as salinity levels fall Right: People walk across the Kokaral to more normal conditions. At issue, however, is Dam on the North Aral Sea in whether these works will worsen conditions in the Kazakhstan. rest of the Aral Sea.

84 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources CASPIAN SEA the loss of river flow input. Thus, the Caspian remains apparently immune to humanity’s efforts To say the Caspian Sea is the world’s largest inland to tame it but its future is an uncertain one, which body of water does not capture its immensity. complicates development around its shores and To put its size in proportion, it is larger in area efforts to rehabilitate inflowing river systems. than America’s Great Lakes or Africa’s Lake Victoria, and contains 40% of the world’s inland The sea’s once-flourishing fisheries have waters—some 78,100 cubic kilometers of water. declined due to damming of most rivers— It measures about 1,200 kilometers in length, which prevents some commercial species, 196-495 kilometers in width, and has an area of including sturgeons for which the sea is famous, 378,000 square kilometers. It provides immense from migrating upriver to their spawning resources and invaluable shipping routes to the grounds—and pollution from agriculture, land- countries that share its 7,000-kilometer coastline: based industry, and the oil industry on the Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian sea itself. Oil platforms dot the Caspian. Federation, and Turkmenistan. Fishing still provides a source of income for The Caspian was once a part of the ancient Tethys countries around its shores, but the greatest Sea, which subsumed the Mediterranean, Black, Caspian revenue comes from extraction of and Aral seas. It became completely isolated hydrocarbons. Estimates for Caspian region oil during the mid-Pliocene Epoch, roughly 1 million are as high as 49 billion barrels, while proven gas years ago. The present sea is shallow in the north, reserves are estimated at 232 trillion cubic feet. with an average depth of 5 meters, and reaches a Both Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan contribute large maximum depth of more than 1,000 meters in the amounts of oil-related and agricultural pollution to south. More than 130 streams and rivers feed the the Caspian. A major concern on the Kazakhstan Top: Caspian Sea shore, Turkmenbashi, Caspian, with a total annual inflow estimated at is radioactive uranium waste in open pits: Turkmenistan. Middle: Housing 300 cubic kilometers. Five rivers account for most the Koshkarata dumping ground near the sea development area in Aktau, on the Caspian Sea in southwestern of the freshwater inflow: the , Sulak, Terek, contained more than 400 million tons of toxic and Kazakhstan. It is now a center of Ural, and . The Volga provides roughly 80% radioactive waste by 1965. oil and gas industry. Bottom: The of the Caspian’s total inflow. However, the Volga’s Caspian Sea shore at Aktau. water is heavily used for industrial and agricultural Rehabilitation may be around the corner. A purposes, such that the flow into the Caspian now European Union–funded Regional Water Quality is only a tenth of the natural flow rate. Monitoring Programme and Pollution Action Plan for specific areas included surveys of Kazakhstan For almost a full century, the water level of the and Turkmenistan waters in the Caspian. But Caspian Sea slowly fell, until it began to rise again workable and enforceable solutions still seem far suddenly in 1977—and is still slowly rising—for off, given the Caspian countries’ reluctance to reasons unknown. This natural cycle has masked cooperate on these matters so far.

Water Resources 85 Caspian Sea

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

KAZAKHSTAN

UZBEKISTAN

GEORGIA Caspian Sea Kara-Bogaz-Gol

AZERBAIJAN TURKMENISTAN

ARMENIA

IRAN

IRAQ N

8008040 Kilometers 1:6,000,000 International boundary

WaterBare Area Irrigated Land Irrigated Land Pastureland Pastureland Pastureland Satellite Image: MODIS MOD09A1 (500m) Image Acquisition Date: September 2008 Projection: Geographic WGS84 KAZAKHSTAN RUSSIAN FEDERATION Prepared by C. Y JI, 2009

UZBEKISTAN GEORGIA ARMENIAAZERBAIJAN TURKMENISTAN TURKEYAZERBAIJAN

IRAQ IRAN AFGHANISTAN 86 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources Left: Blocking the Kara-Bogaz-Gol sea gulf to build the dam separating the gulf Outstanding Lakes the Kazakh and Uzbeki Golodnaya steppe also from the sea in 1980. Upper right: Lake contributes water to the Aydarkul. Aydarkul. Lower right: Lake Issyk-Kul KARA-BOGAZ-GOL is the second largest alpine lake in the world and the most popular summer Given its source, Aydarkul would appear to be holiday destination in Central Asia. Although named Kara-Bogaz-Gol or “mighty less than inviting. However, it is actually quite strait lake” in Turkmen language, this enormous beautiful. Turquoise in color and home to many gulf basin can more correctly be considered the species of fish, it offers a welcome contrast to the world’s largest lagoon. Situated in Uzbekistan on desert and steppe that surround it. Its excellent the Caspian Sea’s eastern coast, it is separated from beaches are eye-catching, as are the pink pelicans, the Caspian by a strait of sandbars. Under natural swans, and white herons that thrive in its less than conditions, the basin serves as an evaporative sink pristine waters. for the Caspian. Around 1900, when Caspian sea level was high, annual outflow from the Caspian to the Kara-Bogaz-Gol stood at roughly 30 cubic LAKE ISSYK-KUL kilometers of water. Later falls in the Caspian’s sea level reduced outflow by half. A solid dam was Lake Issyk-Kul is located high in the northern built across the strait in 1980 to arrest declines Tien Shan of eastern Kyrgyz Republic. Noted for from evaporation. After the closure, sea level in its natural and cultural heritage, long history as a the Caspian rose more than 11 centimeters. But it site for recreation and spas, and clear, clean blue also accelerated evaporation of the highly saline waters, Issyk-Kul ranks high in global lists of special Kara-Bogaz-Gol until parts of it came to resemble categories. It is the world’s ninth largest lake by a salt bowl. The dam was breached in 1984 to volume, second largest lying above 1,200 meters, allow replenishment of the gulf basin, and was and one of the planet’s 20 rare ancient lakes, completely removed in 1992. having been formed roughly 25 million years ago.

Measuring 180 kilometers in length and LAKE AYDARKUL 60 kilometers in width at its widest point, Issyk- Kul has an average depth of 200 meters, and a Numerous lakes are found in the low-lying regions maximum depth of 668 meters. Of the 118 streams of the Aral Sea basin. The largest lakes are created and rivers that flow toward Issyk-Kul, 49 drain into by drainage water, principally irrigation effluent. it. Lake volume is 1,738 cubic kilometers and, as Of these lakes, Aydarkul, with a surface area of 30 may be expected, water level varies by season, square kilometers, is the biggest. Lake Aydarkul rising in spring and summer from snow and glacial rests in the Arnarsay depression astride the border melt, and falling in autumn and winter. High salinity of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It owes its existence keeps the lake from freezing (Issykl-Kul—Ysyk Köl, primarily to winter discharge from the Toktogul Issyk-kol—means “warm lake” in ), water reservoir. Drainage from irrigated fields in making it a vital winter stopover for migratory birds.

Water Resources 87 Lake Issyk-Kul

Almaty KAZAKHSTAN

Lake Issyk-Kul

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

N

2512.5 0 25 Kilometers 1:1,500,000

Provincial capital International boundary Clouds Irrigated Land Mixed Vegetation Rainfed Area Township Cultivated Land Mixed Forests Bare Area Snow/Glacier

Satellite Image: Landsat ETM+ (15m) Image Acquisition Date: circa 2000 (+/- 3 years) Projection: Geographic, WGS84

Prepared by C. Y. Ji, 2009 KAZAKHSTAN

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC UZBEKISTAN

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

TAJIKISTAN AFGHANISTAN

Increasing development and resource exploitation, however, put the lake at risk. Diversion of water has resulted in water level drop of some 2.5 meters in the last few decades. Poor agricultural practices, mining, and introduction of non-native species have all compromised the lake’s natural biodiversity. In response, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic created the Issyk-Kul Biosphere Reserve. The goal for creating this 43,000-square kilometer-protected area is conservation as well as support for long-range social and economic development geared toward restoring the lake’s natural resources.

A long pier extends into Lake Issyk-Kul.

88 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources Lake Sarez

Landslide

Usol Dam

Lake Sarez

N

5052.5 Kilometers 1:300,000

Lake Bare Rock Snow/Glacier Alpine Meadow Tundra

Satellite Image: Landsat ETM+ (15m) Image Acquisition Date: circa 2000 (+/- 3 years) KYRGYZ REPUBLIC Projection: Geographic, WGS84 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Prepared by C. Y. JI, 2009

TAJIKISTAN

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

LAKE SAREZ The lake’s growing size—which builds pressure behind the dam—and the area’s highly seismic In February 1911, an shook the Murgab nature create devastating potential. The canyon River valley in the East in what surrounding the lake is eroding at an annual rate of is now Tajikistan. Giant rock masses hurtled down 30–40 meters, and seepage through the dam has mountain slopes, blocking the Murgab River significantly increased. Should a debacle occur, a with a 5-kilometer wide, 200-meter-high natural catastrophic flash flood would roar down from the dam (Usol Dam)—Lake Sarez was born. Central lake’s 3,200-meter height, engulfing 70,000 square Asia is home to several rock-dammed lakes of kilometers and 6 million people in Tajikistan, which Sarez is the largest. Ominously, the waters Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. To minimize this Lake Sarez, looking toward the dam. A of Sarez are constantly rising. Recent reports risk, the Government of Tajikistan, with the aid diversion tunnel has been proposed that suggest its volume is approaching 16 billion cubic of international donors, has launched a safety would relieve some pressure on the dam and generate hydropower. meters and growing steadily. This poses incredible program. It includes a monitoring and early- danger. warning system that came on line in 2005.

Water Resources 89 Beautiful, clear, and dangerous, the 60-kilometer long and 3-kilometer-wide Lake Sarez sits high up in the mountains of Pamir. The lake was formed in 1911 as the result of a powerful earthquake.

90 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources Toktogul Reservoir

Toktogul

Torkent

Toktogul Reservoir

N

5052.5 Kilometers 1:250,000

City

Burnt Area Mixed Vegetation Bare Rock Lake Irrigated Land Forest

Satellite Image: Landsat ETM+ (15m) Image Acquisition Date: circa 2000 (+/- 3 years) KAZAKHSTAN Projection: Geographic, WGS84

Prepared by C. Y. Ji, 2009

KYRGYZ REPUBLIC

Right: Mountains climb into the distance behind Toktogul Reservoir.

TOKTOGUL RESERVOIR This schedule worked well under Soviet centralized water management, when costs borne The Toktogul Reservoir is the largest of a string by the Kyrgyz Republic for the maintenance of the of reservoirs built along the Naryn River in the Toktogul hydropower plant and of the republic’s Kyrgyz Republic. It has a capacity of 19.5 cubic lower Naryn plants were offset by receipt of kilometers. Completed in 1976, it was designed supplies of equipment, fuel, and goods from the to irrigate lands in the Syr Darya basin. It has former . When the Soviet Union helped bring approximately 400,000 formerly disintegrated, however, supplies to the Kyrgyz unused hectares of land into production, and Republic stopped and effective water management improved irrigation for roughly 1 million hectares coordination has presented an ongoing challenge in downstream Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. to the region ever since. Ideally, the reservoir is guided by a fixed irrigation schedule: water is allowed to accumulate in winter and early spring and released during the growing Toktogul Reservoir. season.

Water Resources 91