Key Facts About the Disappearing Aral Sea
ARAL SEA: June 25, 2008
The Aral Sea, once the world's fourth largest lake, has shrunk by 70 percent
in recent decades in what environmentalists describe as one of the worst
man-made ecological disasters.
Lakes and seas are disappearing around the world, partly as a result of
global warming but mainly due to mismanagement of water resources linked to
irrigation projects.
Other endangered sites include Central Asia's second-largest lake, Balkhash,
as well Lake Chad in Africa and Lake Qinghai, China's largest expanse of
inland water.
Below are key facts about the Aral Sea.
* Fifty years ago, the Aral Sea was the world's fourth inland sea, after the
Caspian Sea, Lake Superior and Lake Victoria. It started shrinking due to
Soviet irrigation projects, its surface area declining by more than 50
percent, to 30,000 square km from 67,000 square km, between 1960 and 1996.
The sea level dropped by 16 metres, according to the World Bank.
* The sea straddles the former Soviet Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan. It split into a large southern Uzbek part and a smaller
Kazakh portion in 1990.
* Central Asia, one of the world's driest regions, has two main rivers, the
Syr Darya and the Amu Darya. Both used to feed the Aral Sea. In the 1960s
Soviet planners built a network of irrigation canals to divert their waters
into cotton fields in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, starving the sea of its
life blood.
* Mismanagement of land and water resources has caused degradation extending
to the entire Aral Sea basin, damaging fish production and causing high
salinity and pollution as well as violent sand storms. Fresh water supplies
have diminished and human health problems have risen, according to the World
Bank.
* Kazakhstan pledged to restore its portion of the Aral Sea when it gained
independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Aral Sea region is among the poorest in the oil producing state. At
least a quarter of its population lives below the poverty line, and the
average monthly income is three times below that of Kazakh financial capital
Almaty, according to official data. Average life expectancy is 66 years
compared to 70 in Almaty.
* The first phase of a World Bank restoration project is due to be completed
at the end of 2008. Total cost is US$86 million, including a US$64.5 million
World Bank loan to the Kazakh government.
The aim is to secure the northern Kazakh pocket of the Aral Sea at 42 metres
above Baltic Sea level and improve ecological conditions in the area. The
project includes construction of the Kok-Aral dike which separates the
northern sea from the southern part, and several hydraulic structures on the
Syr Darya river.
* The World Bank is considering a follow-up project to improve environmental
and economic conditions further, a scheme estimated to cost US$300 million.
It includes returning water to the port of Aralsk and nearby villages,
rehabilitating delta lakes and improving river flows.
* Similar efforts have been impossible in Uzbekistan, where most river water
is still directed to cotton production -- one of the main pillars of the
Uzbek economy. The south part continues to shrink. Experts, including the
World Bank, doubt the Aral Sea will be ever restored to its original size.
(Editing by Catherine Evans)
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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