Research report. Environmental Commission: Sub-commission 1 The question of the Aral Sea By: Aaron Gilchrist

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1 Research report Environmental Commission: Sub-commission 1 The question of the Aral Sea By: Aaron Gilchrist Introduction The Aral Sea forms part of southern Kazakhstan and part of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan in northern Uzbekistan. The Aral Sea basin (inside the dotted line in the map below) supports a population of more than 60 million people. North Aral Sea Syrdarya river Kol-Aral Dam Amudarya river Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are former republics of the Soviet Union. In the 1960s the Soviet government decided to divert the Syrdarya and the Amudarya, the rivers that feed the Aral Sea, to irrigate the desert region surrounding the Aral Sea. The Syrdarya runs through Kazakhstan and much of Amudarya runs through Turkmenistan (rather than Uzbekistan). The diversion has supported agricultural development in the surrounding area but reduced much of the Aral Sea itself to desert. This has had significant adverse impacts on the

2 environment, the climate and the health and the prosperity of the populations living in the region. The building of the Kol-Aral Dam in the 1990s saved the northern part of the Aral Sea (the North Aral Sea), which is in Kazakhstan. The southern part of the remainder of the Aral Sea (the South Aral Sea) is in Karakalpakstan (an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan) and has two sections. The western part is deeper and more stable, and maintenance of its water levels is key to any hope of preserving that part of the sea as an ecological system. The eastern part fluctuates in size, and some water needs to remain there to ensure that it does not dry up completely and add to the already large area of potentially hazardous dust and salt. The Aral Sea Crisis, and the steps which led to it, indicate our misunderstanding of our environment, as well as the scale of the impact we can have on nature. Competition for water has led to the desiccation of large parts of the Aral Sea which is unlikely to be ever fully reversed. This has generated negative outcomes for people from a number of nation states, for the economies of those states and for the environment. With cross-border cooperation, collaborative water management and the development of water resources can make a real difference to the lives of affected persons. Definition of key terms Aral-kum The salt desert that formed in place of large parts of the Aral Sea. Desertification The processes by which an area becomes a desert. This involves the rapid depletion of plant life and the loss of topsoil, usually caused by a combination of lack of water and the overexploitation of grasses and other vegetation by people. Groundwater Fresh water located below the surface of the ground. It is produced by rain, snow and water flowing from riverbeds and filtered by dripping through the different layers of soil. North Aral Sea The northern part of what was the Aral Sea. It is in Kazakhstan and split from the main body of the sea in the 1980s. South Aral Sea The southern part of what was the Aral Sea. It is in Karakalpakstan and large parts of it are now irreversible salt desert (the Aral-kum). Salinization Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil (salt occurs naturally within soils and water). The process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization.

3 Key Issues Environmental and climactic impacts The water level of the Aral Sea has dropped approximately 23 meters since the redirection of the primary sources of water for the sea (around 1/5 th of its water used to be provided by rainfall). The aim was for the redirected water to support agriculture, especially the cotton growing industry. It has been estimated, however, that in practice between 25% and 75% (depending on the period considered) of the redirected water has been soaked up by the desert and wasted, with the salty, sandy and dry soils that support the unlined irrigation channels absorbing much of the water intended for crops. It has been argued that the disaster has been caused by inadequate consideration of the climatic response to manmade environmental changes, rather than the political decision to repurpose the water. The following diagram provides satellite images of the Aral Sea in 1977 (figure a), 1986 (figure b), 1999 (figure c), 2006 (figure d), 2008 (figure e) and 2013 (figure f). It illustrates the dramatic effect of the redirection. The remaining water of the Aral Sea has become much saltier (known as salinisation), killing fish and the fishing industry that was a significant source of employment. At one time more than 80% of the inhabitants of the Aral Sea region were engaged in the production,

4 processing and transportation of fish and fish product. Commercial fishing catches fell from 43,430 tons in 1960 to zero in The fertile lands of the deltas of the Syrdarya and Amudarya rivers provided employment for more than 100,000 people in livestock and poultry farming and in crop growing. The decline in the groundwater levels contributed to the piling up of salt at the surface, and plants died away with vegetation in the region reduced by at least 40%. Fertilisers and pesticides were used extensively to try and compensate for the worsening soil quality, which led to further deteriorated soils and pollution. Less protective vegetative cover, and the lack of the calming effect of surface water, led to intensified winds, which in turn led to more dust storms in the area and further soil erosion. Much of the region around the Aral Sea has been so degraded that it can no longer be used for agricultural purposes. It is estimated that six million hectares of agricultural land 1 have been destroyed as a result of salinization and desertification. Around 13 dust storms occur annually in the region; the salt and dust these carry affect surrounding agricultural areas and have been found on the coast of Antarctica, on the glaciers of Greenland and in forests in Norway. Health and prosperity of those living in the area The agricultural sector plays a significant role in the local economies. Due to a lack of modernisation (in particular, an absence of tractors), the sector employs a large proportion of the population to produce huge quantities of cotton, rice, wheat, fruit, vegetables and other crops. The diversion of water itself has proved relatively successful economically for Uzbekistan. Irrigated land, which cover only 10% of its agricultural land, accounts for more than 95% of its agricultural production. It is the second largest exporter of cotton (the production of which, like rice, requires significant volumes of water). The arid land makes the cotton grown in the Aral Sea area essential for the country s economy; one third of the foreign currency it earns depends solely on this. Those benefits have come at a cost to the local population and the environment. 1 Scotland has around 57 million hectares of agricultural land, representing around 75% of its total land area.

5 Governments in the region buy products from farmers below market price, which requires farmers to rely on a larger (and more poorly paid) labour force, and prevents them from mechanising and investing in tractors. It also encourages larger families, as this provides more hands to work the fields. Cotton production pollutes water and the environment because irrigation water (which is treated with chemicals and fertilisers) is subsequently mixed with water that is drunk. Chemicals used in agriculture are not the only problem for those living in the Aral Sea region. Vozrozhdeniya Island, which was in the southern part of the Aral Sea, was home to a germ warfare facility used for open-air testing of anthrax, plague and smallpox bacteria (among others). As a result of the reduction in water levels, clean-up exercises have had to be undertaken to remove buried stockpiles of such poisons. High levels of deaths of mothers giving birth, and high child mortality rates, have been recorded in the Aral Sea region. Due to increased dust storms, high concentrations of pesticides in the air and poor quality of water, rates of diseases such as tuberculosis, infections, parasites and hepatitis are high. There has been a dramatic spike in anaemia, brucellosis, bronchial asthma and typhoid estimated at eight times the national average; incidences of respiratory diseases, ischemic heart disease, kidney illnesses and illnesses of the nervous system continue to increase. Rising temperatures add to the worry since the hotter weather gets the more infectious diseases will thrive.

6 Some key actions taken to date A threshold was passed in 1990, with the Sea being split into two distinct parts: the North and South Aral. In the mid-1990s a dam made of sand was built by locals with the aim of stabilising the level of the North Aral Sea rather than letting it drain into the large plain of the South Aral Sea. The dam resulted in the Syrdarya river feeding only the North Aral Sea. It was repaired a number of times but abandoned in the late 1990s. The World Bank financed a US$85 million project initiated and realised by Kazakhstan, to rebuild irrigation channels and build a proper dam at the southern border of the North Aral Sea. Canal improvement started in 2001 and the Kol-Aral Dam was completed in The new dam again stopped the Syrdarya river draining into the South Aral Sea, and resulted a rebound of the fishing industry in the North Aral Sea. The dam caused the North Aral Sea to fill up much more quickly than expected, and this has allowed some water to flow intermittently (primarily during the spring or early summer) into the South Aral Sea. However, this was not enough to reverse the decline of the South Aral Sea and the growth of the salt desert (the Aral-kum). There has been creation of forest plantations on the dried seabed of the Aral-kum in the last 10 years to help stabilise soil. During the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, in New York, the Government of Uzbekistan initiated the establishment of a special Trust Fund for the Aral Sea and the Aral Sea zone under the auspices of the United Nations. Its main task is to coordinate efforts and implement targeted programs and projects in the following areas: the protection of the health of the population of the region and the creation of decent living conditions for them; preservation of the ecological balance and adoption of consistent measures to combat desertification and implement rational water use; restoration of biodiversity of animal and plant life; and use of the limited water resources in the region in the interests of all countries in the region. Possible solutions Fundamentally, any lasting solution requires: trans-boundary cooperation between upstream (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) and downstream (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) countries in the Aral Sea basin; collaborative water management; and development of water resources. Irrigate more intelligently Reduce the volume of water wasted in the ground through the use of unlined irrigation channels. Use more underground water and less surface water. Reduce the mixing of water used for irrigation with that used for drinking.

7 Forestation of the Aral-kum More widespread forestation would reduce the number of dust storms (and the respiratory and kidney disorders considered to be associated with these), and create employment. Introduce new technologies For example, a dripping irrigation system uses less water by distributing water together with fertiliser through tubes. This technique has become known as fertigation. Development and adoption of low-energy and low-cost desalination techniques to increase the quality of drinking water. Introduce new industries The development of industries not based on agriculture, and the education of people to work in those industries, would reduce the requirement for water. Timeline of Events Date Ongoing From s By the end of the 1980s From around 2007 Description of events Shrinkage of the mountain glaciers feeding the Syrdarya and Amudarya rivers, reducing the volume of their water flow. Some diversion of the Syrdarya and Amudarya rivers to provide water for irrigation. New irrigation schemes for cotton and rice farming using surface water (the use of groundwater rather than surface water was explored but rejected). The North Aral Sea had split from the South Aral Sea. Improvements started to the canal systems used for irrigation. Completion of the Kol-Aral Dam to rescue the North Aral Sea. Creation of forest plantations on the dried seabed of the Aral-kum to help stabilise soil.

8 Bibliography The future of the Aral Sea lies in transboundary cooperation. Statement of the United Nations Environment Programme. January Accessed January 2, Problems of the Aral Sea and water resources of Central Asia. Statement by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the United Nations. 16 May Accessed January The dying Aral Sea Photographs and essay by Radek Skrivanek. April Accessed 1 January The Aral Sea Crisis. Accessed 1 January