ABSTRACT
In the Central Asian region of the Aral Sea basin, two river systems, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, drain into the lake that has become famous for its disappearance since the beginning of the hydraulic mission at the beginning of the 1960s, with its large-scale expansion of the irrigated area. The Aral Sea was once the fourth largest lake on the planet. In Central Asia, the irrigated area increased from 5.4m. ha in 1950 to 9.4m. ha (within the Aral Sea basin, 7.4-7.9m. ha) in 1991 at the time of the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The expansion of the irrigated agricultural sector led first to the collapse of the fishing industry on the shores of the Aral Sea, then speeded up the rise of salinity within the lake, and eventually led to most of it drying up. The lake has split into three smaller lakes. Currently, a dam constructed on the northern shore (Kazakhstan side) protects some remaining flow of the Syr Darya from pouring into the wider Aral Sea salt desert lake beds. The dam stabilizes this small northern lake. On the south side, little flow from the Amu Darya reaches the former shores of the Aral Sea. Many small saline drainage lakes have been formed in the lower Amu Darya basin within Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The Turkmen Government planned and started the construction of the Golden Age Lake in the Turkmen desert. It is planned to divert Turkmenistan’s drainage waters and some of the drainage flow from Uzbekistan’s territory to the south of the Amu Darya towards this artificial lake.
