North Aral, maybe a chance
To
2003
Once the world's fourth largest lake, the mighty Aral Sea is now in it's death
throws. Starved of it's lifeblood of the waters of the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya
rivers, the sea has been shrinking for the last 40 years.
From the 1930s, the former Soviet Union started building large scale diversion canals to irrigate vast cotton fields in a grand plan to make cotton a great export earner. This was achieved, and even today Uzbekistan is still a large exporter of cotton. But the cost in ecological and human terms have been astronomical.
Attempts in 1992 and 1997 to build the 14 km long Karateren-Kokaral dyke between the north and the south Aral (the south being abandoned, the north reflooded) was successful for 9 and 12 months respectivley, until they were both breached by the weight of the water, and the fact that only enough money was available to build an inherently weak sand and reed structure. This same plan, using concrete, was revived in 2003 by the Kazakh government.
With a grant from the World Bank, and funds from the Kazakh government, a new dam/dyke has been constructed. Far more robust than the first two, this dam may prove to be the Northern Aral's best chance yet.
Started in 2001 and finished in August 2005, the 13km (8 mile) long new dam is the centrepiece of a 100km (60 mile) remaking and repairing of wornout Soviet era canals, sluices and waterworks. This work has increased the water efficiency of the Syr Darya that now irrigates crops and flows into the North Aral. The dam impounds the waters of the rejuvenated river at the Berg Strait, and in the first 12 months the water level has risen 6m (20 feet), the water fanning out northward across the parched seabed.
Grasses and reeds are reappearing on the riverbanks, and waterfowl and larger animals are returning. As the waterlevel rises, more fingerlings will be released from hatcheries.
This page is based on the few reports available as at September 2006. Should you have any documented facts, information or photographs of the new dam and environs please contact us. Any material published on this website will be credited on our Credits and Bibliography page.
