Money recovers part of the Aral Sea

2007/04/16 Roa Zubia, Guillermo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Hidrologia
• Ingurumena

The United Nations has stated that the desiccation of the Aral Sea has been the main environmental damage caused by man. The sea has not completely dried up, but it has lost enough water to unfold what was a single sea and the drying has not remained. To turn the situation around, the World Bank granted a loan to the Government of Kazakhstan in the past decade and will now give it a second. The Aral Sea began to dry up because water did not reach it; the Soviets diverted the two main sources, the Sir Daria and Amu Daria rivers. Since then, diverted water has been used mainly for irrigation of cotton from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the basis of the economy of these two republics. With the World Bank's first loan to the Government of Kazakhstan of $65 million, the Sir Daria River, which currently carries water to the Aral Sea in the northern part of the sea, was redirected. In addition, irrigation systems were improved and the northern and southern sections were distributed with the construction of a reservoir, measures that were very successful. In the short term, the northern stretch began to recover water. The World Bank has granted a second loan to the government of Kazakhstan, exceeding 128 million dollars. The government is investigating the best way to use this money, supposedly the northern part has the possibility to recover it completely. But most of the Aral Sea is from the south, and to recover the Aral Sea it is also necessary to recover the southern part. To do this, the Sir Daria and Amu Daria rivers must return to the sea all the water they poured into the Aral Sea. The photo shows the two parts of the Aral Sea. The north resembles three intertwined lakes, with dark green water, almost black. The southern one is formed by two long lakes, joined together; the left Ibón is dark green and, as the seabed is seen, the green of the right lake is lighter. The photo dates back to 2003 (since then the northern part has increased and the southern part has decreased). The black line seen represents the border between the two republics. Image courtesy of: ANDÉN