JPRS ID: 9951 TRANSLATIONS ONMAJOR USSR RIVER DIVERSION PROJECTS
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JPRS L/9951
1 September 1981
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TRANSLATIONS ON MAJOR USSR RIVER DIVERSION PROJECTS
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JPRS L/9951
1 September 1981
TRANSLATIONS ON MAJOR USSR RIVER DIVERSION PROJECTS
VOLUME IV
CONTENTS
PREFACE 1
5TATEMENTS BY POI,ITICAL LEADERS
Excerpts From Proceedings of 26th CPSU Congress
(Various sources, various dates) 2
Kunayev Speech, by D. A. Kunayev
Rashidov Address, by Sh. R. Rashidov
- Krasnodaxskiy Kraykom's Medunov, by S. F. Medunov
Kirghizia's Usubaliyev Speech, by T. U. Usubaliyev
Aksenov Report, by N. F. Aksenov
Gapurov Speech--Radio Report, by M. G. Gapurov
Gapurov 5peech--'PRAVDA' Version, by M. G. Gapuruv
'TAS5' Review of 28 February Session
'The Basic Directions for Economic, Social Development'
(PRAVDA, 5 Mar 81) 6
Tashkent Reports Existence of Plan To Provide Water to
Uzbek SSR
(Tashkent International Service, 6 Max 81) 7
Rashidov Report on Post-Congress Tasks
(PRAVDA VOSTOKA, 12 Mar 81) 8
Post-Congress Interview With Land Reclamation, Irrigation
Specialists
(D. I. Afonin Interview; PRAVDA VOSTOKA, 14 Mar 81) 10
Survey of Water Situation in Uzbekistan, Plans To Meet Challenge
_ (N. Khudayberdyyev; GIDROTEKHNIKA I MEZIORATSIYA, Mar 81) 13
Environmental Protection and River 1}iversion Endorced
(GIDROTEKHNIKA I MEZIORATSIYA., Apr 81) 19
- a - [II USSR - FOUO]
[III - USSR - 35 FOUO]
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Realization of 'Lenin's Dream' for Irrigation of Central
Asia Urged (B. Zunin; PRAVDA VOSTOKA, 15 May 81) 20
Dzhurabekov on River Diversion
(I. Kh...Dzhurabekov; PRAVDA VOSTOKA, 30 May 81) ....o......... 30
ECONONIIC A5SESSMENTS
Declining Level of and Prospects for Aral Sea
(T. Abramova; SOTSIAI,ISTICHESKAYA INDUSTRIYA, 15 Jan 81) 31
New Goals for Zand Reclamation Workers and Involvement in
- River Diversion
(GIDROTEHIiNIKA I MELIORATSIYA, Feb 81) 33
- Sadykov, Lapkin, Antonov Stress Agricultural Benefits
(A. Sadykov, et al.; IZVESTIYA, 4 Feb 81) 36
Improvement of Exd sting Irrigation Systems Advocated
(Kh. Akhmedov; PRAVDA VOSTOKA, 14 Feb 81) 39
Academician Cites Problems of Caspian, Aral, Azov Seas
- (Ye. Fedorov; PRAVDA, 16 Feb 81) 41
Diversion of Siberia' Rivers Seen as '0 ptimum Solution'
(E. Rakhimov, L. Kamalov; PRAVDA tirOSTOKA, 20 Feb 81) 42
= River Reversal
(S. Gushchev; NAUKA I RELIGIYA, Max 81) 44
Proposed River Diversion C ited as Economic Benefit for
Nationalities
(Albert Pin; NOVOYE VREMYA, 13 Mar 81) 46
Central Asian Desert Irrigation Projects'
(BA..UERN-ECHO, 14-15 Max 81) 47
Importance o.f Ri.ver Diversion Inso.lution of Water Supply Problems
(6. B. Kanatov; GIDROTEHIHNIKA I MELIORATSIYA, Apr 81) 52
Socio-Economic Problems of Territorial Redictribution of Water
Resources
(kuzima Ivanovich Lapkin, Eduard Davlyatovich; EKONCMIKA
SEL'SKOGO KHOZYAYSTVA, May 81) 54
Progress on River Diversion Projects Reviewed
(A. Kuchushev; TRt3D3 6 Jun 81) 63
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ANALYSES
Soviet Hydrologist Says River Diversion not a Near-Term Solution
(Editorial Report) 65
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Review of Book by S. L. Vendrov on Problems of Transformation
of USSR River Systems
(N. I. Makkavayev; IZVESTIYA VSESOYUZNOGO
GEOGR.APHICHES.KOGO OBSHCFSTVA, Jan-Feb 81) 66
Wider Use oi Blasting for Canal Construction Advocat;;d .
(N.S. Grishenko, et al.; GIDROTEHIHNIKA I MEI,IORATSIYA, Max 81) 70
Selection of Strategy for Utilization of Water Resources,
Including River I7iversion, Discussed
(A. I. Duvanin; VESTNIK MOSKOVSKOGO iJNIVERSITETA, SERIYA 5:
GEOGRAFIYA, Mar'-Apr 81) .....................................77
L}iscussion of Scienlvific Studies on Using Volga Water Resources
' (G. V. Voropayev, T. N. Ivanova; VODNYYE RESURSY, No 2, 1981) 82
River Reversal Project Discussed by Turkmen Geographer
(A. Zhumashov; TURKMENSKAYA ISKRA, 15 Apr 81) 89
Possible Changes in Environment and Its Protection in Sphere
of Activity of Diverting Part of the Streamflow on European
Territory of U5SR
(R. Z. Gaxeyshin, et al.; VESTN2K MOSKOVSKOGO UNIVERSITETA,
SEftIYA 5: GEOGRAFIYA, Ma,r-Apr 81) 93
Need for Redistribution/Diversion of Water Between Volga and
Ural Rivers Ih scussed .
(A. P. Musatov, Yu. N. Podushko; VOIJNYYE RESURSY, No 2, 1981) 101
GI,OSSARl OF SELECTED TERMS 107
RUSSIAN ACRONYMS 109
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PREFACE
This is the fir.al volume of the four-volume special report on major Soviet river
diversion projects. Translations of reports or discussions on proposals for or
ramifications of projeczs to divert part of the flow of certain major northward
flowing river systems into areas of the southern USSR, especially Kazakhstan
and Central Asia are included. As wYth previous editions, the material in this
series is divided into statements by political leaders, economic assessments and
scientific-technical analyses. Articles are arranged chronologically within
these categories.
This collection of translations was prompted by a notable increase in the volume
of matertal published on the feasibility of major river diversion projects. The
greatest portion of tihis material was published from the latter part of 1980
through June 1981. The material selected is from a broad range of Soviet central
and republic newspapers and journals, in the local languages of the Central
Asian republics as wel.l as in Russian.
As a fur her aid to the reader this edition includes a brief glossary of selected
Russian/language terms as well as a list of expansions for pertinent Russian
languaAe acronyms.
While this is thP last volume in the series devoted uniquely to river diversion
projects it is not the end of reporting. Material on Soviet river diversion
projects appearing hereafter will be published in the Regional Development sect3.on
of the USSR AGRICULTURE REPORT.
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STATEMENTS BY POLITICAL LEADERS
EXCERPTS FftOM PROCEEDINGS OF 26TH CPSU CONGRESS
Kunayev Speech
_ LD161657 Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 25 Feb 81 p 2
[Speech delivered by D. A. Kunayev, first secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party
Central Counittee, at 24 February morning session of the 26th CPSU Congress]
[Excerpt] Big grain harvests, the faster development of stockraising and the
improvement of rural and urban living standards all depend in the closest possi-
ble way on the :uture solution of water-supply problems..
We are already using to considerable effect exposed and underground springs, the
unique, 500-km-plus Irtysh-Karaganda Canal, which is beir_g extended to
Dzhezkazgan, and 1,000-km aqueducts in north Kazakhstan and the irrigation
systems in the south.
But for a cardinal solution of the water-supply problems of Kazakhstan and
Central Asia and for the stable development of their economies in the future we
believe it is necessary to complete as early as during the llth 5-Year Plan the
preparatory work for diverting part of the flow of Siberian rivers into
Kazakhstan and Central Asia and, in the process, to envisage measures to stabi-
lize the level of the Aral Sea. (applause) The loss of the sea would have a
disastrous effect on the fate of the virgin lands that have. been opened up and
an other extremely vital issues, which is something we have no right to allow.
T'ne time has al_so come to expedite the construction of the Volga-Ural canal.
(applause)
Rashidov Address
LD261615 Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 25 Feb 81 pp 3-4
~ [Speech delivered by Sh. R. Rashidov, first secretary of the Uzbek Communist Party
Central Committee, at 24 February morning session of the 26th CPSU Congress]
[Excerpt] In his report to the party congress Leonid Ilich Brezhnev stressed
most forcefully the need to e'Laborate a special food program for the country.
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The redirection of part of the flow of the northern rivers into the Volga River
basin.and the waters of Siberian rivers into Kazakhstan and Central Asia would
be an imulense contribution to the implementation of this program. There are tens
of millions of hectares of land in the area to be opened up. It is rich, fertile
land, a land bathed in sunshine, a land of nourishment, and there are able
farmers to work it. (applause)
Our congress will discuss and adopt the basic guidelines for the development of
the country's national econoury for 1981-85 and for the period through 1990. A
positive solution of the question of redirecting part of the flow of Siberian
rivers, which Comrade D. A. Kunayev talked about in his speech here, will permit
the cre:ition of a new unique and highly productive region of irrigation farming
and will be a major contribution to the solution of the food program. (applause)
Rashidov Address Comparison
[Excerpt] A comparison of the item entitled "Rashidov Address" with a report of
the Ra.shidov speech at the 26th CPSU Congress published in the Tashkent PRAVDA
VOSTOKA in Russian on 25 February on page 3 reveals the following sole variation:
PRAVDA VOSTOKA rewords and adds.to read: "...of Siberian rivers into the RSFSR,
Kazakhstan and Central Asia could make an immense contribution to resolving it.
There are tens...."
Krasnodarski:y Kraykom's Medunov
LD031137 Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 26 Feb 81 pp 3-4
[Speech delivered by S. F. Medunov, first secretary of Krasnodarskiy Kraykom, at
25 February morning session of the 26th CPSU Congress]
� [Excerpt] It is necessary for both central planning organs and agricultural
organs to adopt a comprehensive approach to the examination of the kray's poten-
, tial for agricultural production.
- We believe in the kray that it is expedient to concentrate efforts on increasing
tr,e production of high-quality food and seed grain--wheat and corn, rice and
- soybeans, sunflowers, beets and vegetables, the seed of alfalfa and other crops
which cannot be grown in other parts of the country. This approach accords with
the requirement put forward in Leonid Ilich Brezhnev's report.
Among the measureG insuring the Kuban's transformation into a zone of stabl2,
� highly commercial agriculture regardless of the weather, it is necessary to
- implement in practice the plans being elaborated to divert part of the flow of
- northern rivers via the Volga to the northern Caucasus. In the long term this
will insure the kray's annual production of about a billion poods of grain and
the cultivation of a sufficient quantity of fodder crops for YLighly intensive
livestock raising.
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Kirghizia's Usubaliyev Speech
LD011301 MQSCOw PRAVDA in Russian 27 Feb 81 pp 3-4
[Speech by T. U. Usubaliyev, first secretary of the Kirgiz CP Central Com-
mittee, at 25 February evening session of the 26th CPSU Congress]
[Excerpt] I would like to emphasize the existence of large water resources in
this zone. The Sarydzhaz River alone has an annual flow of over 4 billion cubic
meters. The redirection even of less than half of this flow into ttie Issyk-Kul
Basin and the Chuyskaya Valley would insure the stabilization of the level of
Lake Issyk-Kul, improve Che conditions of this report zone of union importance
and make it possible to irrigate over 200,000 more hectares of fertile land.
This would make it possible to increase considerably the output of agricultural
products.
By developing the hydraulic power resources of the Sarydzhaz River and its
tributaries, the Central Asian republics and Kazakhstan will receive over 5
billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year.
Aksenov Report
LD021221 Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 27 Feb 81 p 7
[Speech delivered by N. F. Aksenov, first secretary of Altayskiy Kraykom, at
26 February morning session of the 26th CPSU Congress]
[Excerpt] It is well known, comrades, that the shortage of moisture accounts
for the shortfall in the grain and fodder harvest in the steppe regions of
- Siberia. So there is a pressing need to further intensify work on land irriga-
tion and to more rationally use arable land, above all for the development of
grain production. The USSR Gosplan should take this more fully into account
when resolving problems of the redistribution of Siberia's water resources.
Gapurov Speech--Radio Report
LD261144 Moscow Domestic Service in Russian 0930 GMT 26 Feb 81
[Report on speech by M. G. Gapur.ov, first secretary of the Turkmen Communist
Party Central Committee, at the 26 February session of the 26th CPSU Congress in
the Kremlin Palace of Congresses--with portions recorded]
[Excerpt] Comrades, in the llth 5-Year Plan the fuel and power complex will
develop at a rapid rate in the republic, and the construction of the Karakumiskiy
canal named after Vlaciimir Ilich Lenin will be continued. However, there are
also certain complications. In agriculture, millions of hectares of fertile
virgin land with a good climate are not being used because of a shortage of
irrigation water and land-improvement work. That is why we are counting on more
effective assistance from the USSR Gosplan, and the USSR Ministry of Land
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Reclamation and Water Resources in supplying the required capital investments for
this purpose.
Comrade Kunayev and Comrade Rashidov put forward in their speeches a proposal for
the construction of hydro-technical facilities to divert part of Siberian rivers
to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. We support this proposal and ask the CPSU
Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers to take a positive decision
_ on it. [applause] [end recording]
Gapurov Speech--'PRAVDA' Version
LD011501 Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 27 Feb 81 pp 5-6
[Speech delivered by M. G. Gapurov, first secretary of the Turkmen CP Central
Committee, at 26 February morning session of the 26th CPSU Congress]
[Excerpt] Comrades: In the llth 5-Year Plan the fuel and energy complex will
develop at increasing preferential rates in the republic. Gas extraction will
reach 81-83 billion cubic meters per year, electricity generation will increase
80 percent, oil refining will double and mineral fertilizer prod�ction will
almost treble. The construction of the V. I. Lenin Karakumskiy Canal will con-
tinue. However, there are certain difficulties in the way of this. In agri-
culture millions of hectares of fertile virgin land with a favorable climate
are not being used because of the shortage of irrigation water, and land reclama-
tion work needs to be carried out oii them. For this reason we are hoping for more
effective assistance from the USSR Gosplan and the USSR Ministry of Land Reclama-
tion and Water Resources in earmarking the requisite capit.al investments for
these purposes. In their speeches Comrades D. A. Kunayev and Sh. R. Rashidov
suggested starting the construction of hydraulic engineering installations to
divert part of the flow of Siberian rivers into Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
We support that proposal and we ask the CPSU Central Committee and USSR Council
of Ministers to decide in favor of it [reshit ego polozhitelno]. (applause)
'TASS' Review of 28 February Sessi.on
LD281330 Moscow TASS in English 1253 GT1T 28 Feb 81
[Excerpt] Moscow, 28 Feb, TASS-- Today, on the sixth day of the work of the 26th
Congress of the CPSU, the delegates continued discussing the report "Guidelines
for the Economic and Social Development of the USSR for 1981-1985 and for the
Period Ending in 1990", delivered by Nikolay Tikhonov, the head of the Soviet
Government, on Friday.
In this document, Vladimir Gusev, the first secretary of the Saratov Regional
Committee of the CPSU, said at the congress today, mucli attention xs devoted to
matters aimed at developing agriculture. The speaker showed the possibilities of
irrigated farming on the example of Saratov region which is situatecl in the arid
steppes beyond the Volga. "Life has convincingly proved tilat irrigation is the
most reliable way to high and stable yields," he said. Much more irrigated lands
than before is to be brought into cultivation in Saratov region in the current
five-year period. This will create conditions for the region's more tangible
participation in the implementation of the country's food programme, he said.
CSO: 1829/234 5
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'THE BASIC DIRECTIONS FOR ECONOMIC, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT'
LD051300 Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 5 Mar 81 pp 1-7
["Text" of "The Basic Directions for the Economic and Social Development of the
USSR for 1981-85 and for the Period Through 1990"1
[Excerpt] Work is to be expedited on the reconstruction of existing land improve-
ment systems and improvement of their water supplies, together with the elimination
of their salinity and high level of soil acidity.
Preparatory work is to be commenced on transferring part of the outflow of northern
- rivers to the Volgs River Basin, as well as continuing the scientific and design
studies for diverting some of the water from Siberian rivers to Central Asia and
Kazakhstan.
CSO: 1829/237
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TASHKENT REPORTS EXISTENCE OF PLAN TO PROVIDE WATER TO UZBEK SSR
GF071542 Tashkent International Service in Uzbek 1700 GMT 6 Mar 81
[Text] Twenty-one large irrigation networks have Ueen constructed in the Ky zy lkum
Desert of Uzbek SSR, which covers a large portion of the northern part of the coun--
try. The completion of the networks will provide for increased ( agricultural)
produce in the Uzbek SSR.
In line with the current Soviet 5-year socioeconomic development plan, which has
been ratified by the 26th CPSU Congress, the dry regions of the Uzbek SSR will be
provided with water. A(?plan) has been drawn up by the (?state resources direc-
torate) for supplying water to siich areas.
- CSO: 1810/079
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RASHIDOV REPORT ON POST-CONGRESS TASKS
LD251031.Tashkent PRAVDA VOSTOKA in Russian 12 Mar 81 pp 1-3
[UZTAG Report: "The 26th CPSU Congress Decisions--Into Action: A Meeting of the
Republic's Party Aktiv"] .
- [Excerpts] Water resources construction is being carried out on a large scale in
the republic. The operation of the water resources systems and the reclaimed con-
_ dition of the land are improving yearly. The resources being invested in water
resources construction give a high -eturn. At the same time we have instances of
the misuse of resources, and cases of capital investments being diverted to other
goals are persisting.
In accordance with the decisions of the 26th party congress, it is planned to open
up about 500,000 hectares of new lands in the republic during the llth 5-Year Plan.
- The development of large tracts in the Karshinskaya, Golodnaya and Dzhizakskaya
~ Steppes and the construction of reservoirs, irrigation channels and pumping sta-
tions will continue. Work on improving the operating service will be promoted.
The republic's Gosplan, the Ministries of Land Reclamation and Water Resources,
Agriculture and Fruit and Vegetable Farming, the Glavsredazirsovkhozstroy and party
and soviet organs should ensure the construct.ion and commissioning of water
resources projects strictly according to.plan and within the set deadlines.
Long-term forecasts for the next 5-year period assume a low water level and an
increasing shortage of water resources. This supposition is already beginning to
be borne out. A complex situation is emerging in water resources as a result of
insignificant precipitation last December and in the current year, and of an
- inadequate reserve of moisture. Under these conditions the task of accelerating
in every way the planned work on overcoming the water shortage is looming large.
Monitoring of the distribution and use of irri,gation water must be stepped up.
An important role is assigned to chemicalization in resolving tasks of the further
expansion of agriculture. We receive many mineral fertilizers, herbicides, defoli-
ants and other chemical resources. The increase in yield depends on their correct
application. Mention must be made of this because we still do not always achieve
a high return from the use of fertilizers and other chetnical resources. We have
set up the Uzselkhozkhimiya Science-and-Production Association and established its
organs in the oblasts and rayons. But there has been no perceptible improvement
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in the chemicalization service. The association exerts only a weak influence on
improving the use of fertilizers by kolkhozes and sovkhozes.
The Ministry of Agriculture must take measures to strengthen this sector of work,
establish closer links with science and draw up proposals for a radical improvement
in the use of chemical resources--primarily mineral fertilizers--on kolkhozes and
sovkhozes.
A crucial period has r.ow begun in agriculture. Rural workers are preparing to
greet the sowing campaign fully equipped. Once again it is necessary to examine
thoroughly the readiness of every farm for field work, and to check the complete
readiness of equipment and the provision of machine operator cadres for each unit,
and the supply of seeds, miiieral fertilizers and plant-protection agents. Taking
the anticipated low water level into account, it is necessary to increase the rate
of ia-rigation rate, stockpile more organic fertilizers, bring pumping plants into
a state of readiness and step up work in orchards and vineyards. The sowing of
alfalfa, grain crops, corn and early vegPtables must be completed in the next few
days. And, of course, the cotton sowing must be performed to a high agrotechnical
standard and seedlings must be obtained on natural moisture.
CSO: 1829/238
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- POST-CONGRESS INTERVIEW WITH LAND RECLAMATION, IRRIGATION SPECIALISTS
Tashkent PRAVDA VOSTOKA in Russian 14 Mar 81 p 2
[Interview with D. Y, Afonin, deputy minister of land reclamation and water
management of the Uzbek SSR; V. G. Mitskevich, head engineer of the irrigation
administration of the republic Ministry of Agriculture; and V. A. Dukhovnyy, direc-
tor of the Central Asian Scientific Research Institute of Irrigation imeni V. D.
Zhurin, candidate of technical sciences, by I. Lyubovskiy, supernumerary corres-
pondent: "Water--The Ally of the Harvest"]
[Text] Recently in Namangan there was a meeting of the republic aktiv of agricul-
tural and water management workers which was devoted to the effectiveness of the
utilization of irrigated land in Uzbekistan. Our supernumerary correspondent
I. Lyubovskiy met with participants in the congress--D. I. Afonin, deputy minister
of land reclamation and water management of the Uzbek SSR; V. G. Mitskevich, chief
engineer of the irrigation administration of the republic Ministry of Agriculture;
and V. A. Dukhovnyy, director of the Central Asian Scientific Research Institute
of Irrigation imeni V. D. Zhurin--and requested that they discuss the development
of land reclamation in the republic as well as tasks arising from the decisions of
the 26th CPSU Congress. [Question] What results did land reclamation workers of Uzbekistan achieve under
the Tenth Five-Year Plan and what are the main tasks f acing them under the current
Five-Year Plan?
[D. I. Afonin] The years of the last Five-Year Plan, especially the last three,
were not easy for the republic's farmers. It was necessary to overcome the dif-
ficulties of prolonged spring rains, the runoff of mud streams and the shortage of
water during the height of the summer growing period. Drawing on lessons from
past years, the land reclamation workers of Uzbekistan prepared well for the 1980
growing period. In the oblasts they promptly conducted current and reserve irri-
gations and accumulated 5.4 billion cubic meters of water in the reservoirs, which
is a billion more than the supplies of the preceding year. They accumulated 5.2
billion cubic meters of water more than previously in the interrepublic water
reservoirs as well.
But still the growing period irrigations were conducted under difficult conditions
in 1980. At the end of July and the beginning of August there was an especially
small amount of water. The supplies accumulated in the water reservoirs were
,
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_ expended intensively. Water management workers made use of all existing wells and
drilled new ones, and they installed mobile pumping stations at the collectors.
All measures were taken for economical expenditure and efficient utilization of
water. At the price of a large amount of hard work the land reclamation workers
managed to provide water for all irrigated land, which contributed significantly
to the rich harvest of cotton.
Intensification of agricultural production and increased productivity now depend
more and more on the level of operation of the land reclamation service. Under the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan we will have to increase the area of irrigated land by
500,000 hectares wi.th very limited water resources. Amelioration work will have to
be done on 1.1 million hectares. In order to increase the effectiveness of the
utilization of irrigated land and improve the operational service, progressive
kinds of drainage will be introduced and many main and interfarm collectors will be
reconstructed. Land reclamation workers of the republic are preparing intensively
for this year's growing period. They have already overfulfilled the assignment for
cleaning the intrafarm irrigation network, have completed the cleaning of the inter-
farm irrigation networic and have completed leaching irrigations in the majority of
oblasts of the r.epublic. Water management workers of the Uzbekistan have resolved
to complete the preparation of the irrigation systems ahead of schedule--by 25
March.
~ [Question] What are the condition and the prospects for the development of the
intrafarm land reclamation network in the republic?
jV. G. MitskevichJ Despite a certain amount of technical support, the existing
intrafarm land reclamation systems can not be considered complete. Technically
a complete system must be coordinated with the means and the technology for ir.ri-
gation. Unfortunately, the overall area of irrigated land wath irrigation charts
covering 0.5-10 hectares in 1976 exceeded 900,000 hectares. This made it consi-
derably more difficult under the Tenth Five-Year Plan to introduce mechanization
extensively and use technical irrigation equipment in agricultural work. As of
today 1,645,000 hectares required comprehensive restructuring. Taking into ac-
- count the need for economical expenditure of water, this problam is now no less
crucial than the assimilation of new land.
Under the Eleventh Five-Year Plan we intend to comprehensively restructure the
land on an area 125,000 hectares. This will make it possible to increase signifi-
cantly the efficiency factor of intrafarm land reclamation networks, to reduce
water losses from filtration considerably, to provide the irrigation network with
the necessary hydrotechnical structures and equipment, and to begin to introduce
the "Automated Control System-Irrigation" everywhere on the farms.
- Water management'workers of the republic have done a large amount of work directed
toward improving the operation of main and interfarm collectors, canals and water
reservoirs and applying automated equipment and telemechanics. The time has come
to introduce all this into intrafarm land reclamation networks as we11.
[Question] How are you solving the problem of increasing iriigation water re-
sources in the republic?
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C
[V. A. Dukhovnyy] Under the Tenth Five-Year Plan a significant amount of work was
done for utilizing water efficiently, reducing nonproductive expenditures of it,
regulating river flows and improving the land. This made it possible to halt the
advancing shortage of water. At the same time the difference between the exisCing
water resources and the consumption of water is decreasing more and more. In par-
ticular, the water of the Syrdar'ya is now being fully utilized. Moreover, the
consumption of water from the Syrdar'ya exceeded its flow by 24 percent as a re-
sult of the recycling of water. The utilization of water from the Amudar'ya amounts
to 87.6 percent. The provision of water is less than 90 percent for about 18 per-
cent of the land in Uzbekistan.
One of the most important tasks of the decade is to accelerate the work for divert-
ing part of the flow from Siberian rivers into Central Asia. But in doing *_his it
is necessary to utilize all existing water resources efficiently and economically.
In order to increase the effectiveness of the utilization of water, it is necessary
to reconstruct water management systems on the basis of the application of modern
types of drainage in combination with progressive designs for the irrigation net-
work, technical irrigation equipment and leveling of the sections. The introduction
of an efficient structure for the planted areas through the application of regular
crop rotations also produces a large effect. A combination of modern technical
equipment for irrigation and improved types of drainage makes it possible to intro-
duce optimal land reclamation conditions. This wi11 make it possible to reduce ex-
penditures of water on leaching and also to reduce evaporation.
11772
CSO: 1829/219
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SURVEY OF WATER SITUATION IN UZBEKISTAN, PLANS TO MEET CHALLENGE
Moscow GIDROTEKHINIKA I MELIORATSIYA in Russian No 3, Mar 81 pp 2-6
, [Article by N. Khudayberdyyev, chairman of the Uzbek SSR Council of Ministers:
"Toward a New Rise in Irrigation Farming in Uzbekiz,*sn"]
[Text] The Soviet people greeted the 26th CPSU Congress with profound en-
thusiasm. .
The report by General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Comrade L. I.
Brezhnev, "The Report of the CPSU Central Committee to the 26th Congress of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Upcoming Party Challenges in the Field
of Domestic and Foreign Policy," was received as a major new step in creative
development of Marxist-Leninist science and as a document of vast political and
theoretical importance. The new goals of national economic development were
clearly and concretely outlined in the report by Comrade N. A. Tikhonov, chairman
of the USSR Councilof Ministers. The work of the congress, the statements of
delegates, and the resolutions that were adopted had enormous impact not only
in our country, but throughout the world.
The documents of the congress and draft "Basic Directions of Economic and Social
Development of the USSR for 1981-1985 and the Period Until 1990," which were
adopted after nationwide discussion, name as one of the most important problems
of building communism the program for further development of the agroindustrial
complex and taking far-reaching steps to reliably supply the country with food
ancl agricultural raw material.
In Uzbekistan the major challenges of intensive development of agricultural
: production, and of cotton growing, the principal sector here, are being resolved
through consistent implementation of CPSU agrarian policy.
During the lOth Five-Year Plan the cotton growers of the republic sold more than
28.5 million tons of raw cotton to the state, 932,000 tons more than envisioned
by the plan and 4.04 million tons more than was sold in the Ninth Five-Year.,Plan.
A record amount, 6,237,000 tons of raw cotton, was delivered to procurement
points in the last year of the five-year plan. Cotton yield rose to 3.32 tons
per hectare.
.
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The Uzbek SSR was awarded the Order of Lenin for the third time for its outstanding
success in carrying out the decisions of the 25th CPSU Congress with respect to
the development of cotton growing and for successful fulfillment of the lOth
Five-Year Plan assignments for state purchases of cotton, grain, vegetables, melons
and potatoes, grapes, fruit, and ambary [kenaf].
- In Uzbekistan, as also in the other fraternal republics of Central Asia, irrigation
is Lhe key factor in the development of productive forces and the foundation and
basic means of intensifying agricultural production.
A total of 13.3 billion rubles of capital investment has been invested in water
management construction since the May 1966 Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee.
The republic's irrigated area has more than quadrupled in this time.
Each year the republic incorporates roughly 100,000 hectares of new irrigated
lands. The Golodnaya Steppe, where the methods of integrated development of virgin
desert land was worked out and tested, has become a kind of laboratory. A major
region ot highly efficient cotton growing has been established there on the basis
of irrigating 300,000 hectares using fundamentally new organizational and technical
concepts. The experience of development of Golodnaya Steppe remains unsurpassed
in the world. The knowhow acquired there is being used extensively in development
of virgin lands in the Karshinskaya, Surkhan-Sherebadskaya, and Dzhizakskaya
steppes and large rice-growing areas in Karakalpakskaya ASSR and other regions
of Uzbekistan.
The expansion and intensification of irrigation farming in Uzbekistan demands
enormous water consumption. Soil and climatic conditions in the republic make
it necessaxy to use water both for water supply and for major and annual flushing
to remove salts from the soil. At the same time water consumption in industry
and the municipal-domestic sector grows each year.
All these things taken together have led us to a situation where we are already
today experiencing a water shortage. Tfie situation is aggravated by the fact that
every year water management and agricultural workerE in certain parts of Uzbekistan
or throughout the republic are forced to struggle with bad precipitation years.
1974, 1975, and 1977 were especially memorable years; the loss from lack of water
exceeded 200,000,000 rubles a year. Water was delivered only to the cotton
plantations. Fields of extremely valuable feed and vegetable crops, the rice
fields of the Fergana valley and the Tashkent and Zarafshan oases, orchards, and
vineyards had to be put on "starvation rations."
Wai:e.r supp].y to developing sectors of the republic economy is becoming an acute
problem which demands an immediate solution in the interests of continued economic
- growth. The paramount issues are rational, more efficient use of water resources,
water economy, and pro tecting water sources against contamination and depletion.
In connection with this the republic has worked out and is implementing a broad
program of water management activities. The comprehensive program envisions
completion of work to regulate the flow of the rivers to increase the water supply
to irrigated lands; a reduction in water losses from main canals by the use of
antifiltration lining, and from the distribution network by the use of chutes
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and pipes; an improvement in irrigation equipment; extensive drainage construction;
a decrease in water use for flushing and irrigation by using mineralized water;
reorganization and moder,nization of irrigation systems; automation of water
distribution, and so on.
Work to regulate the flow of the river is going forward on a broa3 front. Con-
struction of the enormous Andizhan reservoir on the Karadar'ya River and the
Charvak :eservoir on the Chirchik has been completed. The establishment of a
system of reservoirs (including the Toktogul reservoir on the Naryn, which was
built earlier) makes it possible to carry on effective long-term regulation of
the flow of the Syrdar'ya River. A unique dam has been built across the channel of the Amudar'ya near Tyuyamuyun.
The new reservoir, together with the Nurek reservoir on the Vakhsh, will improve
seasonal regulation of the flow of the Amudar'ya. Small reservoirs to regulate
the flow of small rivers and streams are also under construction.
As the result of regulation the total volume of available river flow in the
republic was increased by 17 cubic kilometers a year. The volume of use of
underground water, which is consumed within the limits of annually renewed
resources without detriment to the environment, reached 3.6 cubic kilometers
a year. More than 600 wells of various types are built for this purpose each
year. The volume of interbasin diversions is growing. Very large series of
pumping stations such as the Amubukhara, Amuzang, Besharyk, and many others de-
liver up to seven cubic kilometers of water from the Amudar.'ya and Syrdar'ya to
the low-water basins of the Zarafshan, Surkhan and other rivers.
Each year up to 1,000 kilometers of canals are lined with concrete. Hundreds
- of kilometers of canals have been laid in strongly permeable ground with kapron
and pol}Rner coatings which insure an efficiency of 0.98-0.99. The area of
irrigatian systems constructed using reinforced concrete chutes and enclosed
pipes with efficiency levels of 0.78-0.85 is constantly increasing. The intro-
duction of closed low-pressure Farkhad-1 pipes makes it possible to practically
eliminate loss from the regulated system.
Improvements in watering technology are ai.med at reducing water losses in the
field. A transition is being made from "ok-aryki" [possibly traditional Central
Asian irrigation structures] to flexible watering pipes. The production of
flexible pipe in the republic~has passed 2,000 kilometers a year. Movable aluminum
pipe has begun to be used, and plans call for the development of drip irrigation
for orchards and vineyards.
Considerable attention is devoted to improving and maintaining the optitnal level
of groundwater by drainage systems. More than 88,000 kilometers of open and
closed drainage systems have been built and are in operation. Vertical drainage
is developing intensively. All this makes it possible to move toward optimization
of land improvement regimes, a reduction in total water consumption, and wider
use of mineralized waters. The use of mi.neralized waters for jrrigation has
reached three cubic kilometers a year in the republic.
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Automation of water distribution, the introduction of automated control systems
such as the Zarafshan, Southern Goldnaya Steppe Canal, Fergana, and many others,
helps reduce water loss from canals.
More and more work is being done on the reorganization and modernization of
irrigation systems and switching some irrigated lands to water supply from the
new canals. In just the next five years plans envision the construction of more
than 35 pumping stations and 17 reservoirs on small rivers and streams.
In the current five-year plan the rate of comprehensive upgrading of irrigated
land is to increase sharply. The water management organizations of the republic
have a large construction industry base for this purpose. The capacities of the
reinforced concrete article plants exceed 1.5 million cubic meters of reinforced
concrete a year, while our enterprises can produce 2,500 kilometers of drainage
pipe and 4 million cubic meters of sorted gravel. Such a construction base makes
it possible not only to develop irrigation, but also to sharply increase the
level of operation of existing irrigation systems. The republic has established
an operating base for water management facilities that insures their operation
on an industrial basis.
The steps that have been taken to increase the water available to irrigation
systems have had a signiticant impact. In the last 10 years the efficiency of
their use for the republic as a whole grew from 0.43 to 0.61. Further steps will
make it possible to raise this figure to the level already achieved in the most
advanced systems. But no matter how efficient all these steps are, they cannot
prevent a growing shortage of water in the region. As scientific research and
calculations demonstrates the available water resources of the Syrdar'ya and
Amudar'ya can oniy support the development of irrigation for a few years into
the future.
The potential area of land suitable for irrigation in Uzbekistan is estimated
to be 7.5 million hectares; taking into account the possibility of highly complex
land improvement measures it could be 12 million hectares. But even if all the
water resources of the Aral Sea basin are used fully and economically, the area
- of irrigated land in the republic, which today is 3.4 million hectares, can only
be increased to 4.2-4.4 million hectares. In other words, considering the water
constraint the reserve for land development is about 1 million hectares. Given
a continuation of the existing rate of water management construction, where up
to 100,000 hectares of irrigated lands are put into use in the republic each year,
this reserve will be exhausted in 10 years. Even if the most austere measures
are taken toward economical and rational use of water, the water resources of the
Amudar'ya River basin caill be completely developed by 1988-1990, and the waters
of the Syrar'ya River will be put to full use even earlier.
With the worsening shortage of water resources, it is inevitable that negative
consequences will ensue, to the substantial detriment of the environment. First
of all, the already-high mineralization of river waters will grow. Already today,
the minera ization of the water in the middle and lower courses of the Syrdar'ya
i.n an average water year reaches the maximum tolerable concentration. This process
will go further in the future and in the coming decade the salt content in irrigation
,
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r'OK OFr7 c; iM. [iSE ONI,Y
Wir~~l v:i ll .,i;.;n:i.ficanciy e~:ceed the maximum tolerable concentration. Irrigating
wit h 5urii kratur wil l unquestionably worsen the condition of the land, lcad to
tho accuinularion of salLs in the soi?, and prevent us in the futura noL only from
Lllt'Y'f:3S1.1,4, r_h~. yield of agricultural crops, but even maintaining yield at the
l;:ve.l nttriined. A similar picture is observed in the basin of the Amudar'ya
River, Tntensive salinization of the land will inevitably ].ead to an increase
iTt tlie voltime oC watcr used for flushing, which again will increase the water
shurtzgc.
Accordiiig t:o ca!.culations by scientists, with the most economical and rational
tise of ttit! internal water resources of the republic only, the growth rate of
zgrl.cliltural. production attained in Uzbekistan cannot be maintained beyond 1990.
F�i-rher clevelopment of irrigation farming, and of the entire agroindustrial complex
c>1 Uzbekistan, can only be accomplished by bringing in water from other regions
- tlat have more water available.
Tlie constanr concern of our party for the development of productive forces of
rhe Central Asian republics was vividly manifested in the decision of the 25th
_ CPSU Congress to carry out scientific research and planning work during the
lOth Five-Year Plan in relation to the problem of diverting part of the flow of
the Sibecian rivers to Central Asia and Kazakhstan. This ancient dream of the
people Kas now, under conditions of mature socialism, acquired a practical
foundation for the first time.
As research and calculations show, diverting even a comparatively small part of
the flow (25-60 cubic kilometers) of the great rivers of Siberia would offer
enormous prospects for further socioeconomic development of the RSFSR, the
Kazakh SSR, and the Central Asian repuhlics.
The diversion of Siberian water to the Aral Sea basin will increase the volume
of water reaources of the basin 1.5 times and make it possible to increase more
than two times the area of irrigated land in the Central Asian republic and
Southern IC:izakhstan. It will enable us to raise cotton production in this region
to 11-1.2 million tons and significantly expand rice, corn, and vegetable fields,
and orchards and vineyards. Favorable conditions will be created for the further
development of animal husbandry.
Thc cffect of diverting part of the flow of the Siberian rivers to the south
is not restricted to the sphere of agricultural production. It will support the
development of exi.sting and formation of new territorial industrial complexes,
which wi7.1 malce it possible to significantly increase the volume of industrial
production in the region.
Constriiction of the diversion canal will make it possible to develop the Iand
and minerals all along ita route. Highways and railroads will be laid along the
canal, r;nd dozena of settlements and cities will arise in the canal zone. The
enornious :;cale of work will dc:mand hundreds of thousanda of workers, some from
the denACly populated regions of Central Asia. This will promote rational use
of thc! Labor resources of the Central Asian republics.
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U, A. Kunzyuv, Sh. R. Rasliidov, and M. G. Gapurov spoke at the 26th
C!':G C~~n,,r~�:,s ot the necessity of beginning hydro engineering work on diverting
pc).i t+)i t I,(~ Flow ol thc Siberian rivers to Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
T(I'.' ';roin,dwork for sol.ving [his grandiose problem has been laid by all the,-experience
of uur cOuntry in water management construction, including the White Sea-Baltic,
1,'olga-BaI t ic, and Va1ga-llon canals and the North Crimean and Kakhovka main canals.
Tlit- K:trcilcum ccinal is essentially of model of the projected diversion canal, reduced
to one-fuiirt.h size. The Ka.rshinskiy series of pumping stations and the Amubukhara
macl)ine canal are considered analogs of transfer structures. 'It is interesting
ta note that the cross-section of the Farkhad derivative canal, which was built
during the Great Patriotic War almost without machinery, is only half the si.ze
af the cross-section of the diversion canal.
The enormous army of highly skilled workers and hydro engineering specialists
avai'lable in our country, armed with powerful modern machinery, can solve problems
on any scalc very rapidly.
Thc working people of Uzbekistan together with the working people of the other
Centrat Asian republics are ready to take a very active part in carrying out the
plan to divert the water of the Siberian rivers to the Aral Sea basin. The
largest planning and scientific research institutes in the republic, the Central
Asian State Institute �or the Planning of Irrigation Structures and Rural Electric
Power Plants and the Central Aaian Scientific Reaearch Institute of Irrigation,
in coopexation with scientific inatitutions in Moscow, Leningrad, and various
other Union republics are already doing a aignificant part of the work on the
problem. Dozens of other planning organizations in the republic are ready to join
ttie work. The water management conatruction Qrganizations, who incorporate up
to 1.5 billion rubles of capital investment a year for construction and instal-
lation work, have an enormous stock of earthmoving machinery and are capable of
performing large amounts of work on the diversion canal line. The Uzbek SSR
Ministry of Agriculture and Uzkolkhozstroy [Rolkhoz Construction] can be called
in to participate in construction work.
The higher and aecondary schools, vocational-technical schools, and educational
combines of the republic train hundreds of construction, power, and mechanical
engineers and ttiousands of skilled workers each year. They can be used in con-
struction of the canal.
Tlie arrival of Siberian water will.provide a mighty impetus to further development
of che entire economic complex of Uzbakiatan. Vast proapecta will open for a
new upsurgr in agriculture and industrial production in the other Central Asian
republics and KazakhsCan as well. Development of large areas of land in the
diveraion canal zone will create conditiona for the production of many millions
of tons of grain, corn, rice, vegetablea, melons, fruits, and grapes and hundreds
of thousands of tons of ineat and milk. This will be a aignificant contribution
to carrying out the party's food program and implementing the economic strategy
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, whose principal objective is a steady
fmprovement in the living conditions of Soviet people.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Kolos", "Gidrotekhnika i melioratsiya", 1981
11,176
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND RIVER DIVERSION ENDORSED
Moscow GIDROTEKHNIKA I MELIORATSIYA in Russian No 4 April 81 pp 2-5
[Lead Article: "Mighty Stimulus for New Achievements"]
[Excerpt] At the CPSU Congress special attention was devoted to questions of
the protection of nature and the.rational utilization of natural resources. It
was pointed out in the report of CPSU Central Committee General Secretary
L. I. Brezhnev that in the eighties there will be an increase in expenditures
for protecting the environment. In the nrqgram adopted by the Congress "Basic
Directions in the Economic and Social Development of the USSR for 1981-1985 and
for the Period to 1990" a complex system of scientific-technical, economic and
social measures directed at the solution of the ecological problem is envisaged.
The Congress pointed out the necessity to improve protection of water sources,
including small rivers and lakes, from exhaustion and pollution, and also to
continue work in protection and rational utilization of natural complexes and
first and foremost the Baykal.
The resolution of the creation of automated control systems for water management
complexes in river basins in the European part of the country and Central Asia,
reinforced by the instructions on the necessity for large scale output of instruments
and automated stations for monitoring the environment is extremely important.
Commencement of preparatory work for diversion of part of the flow of northern
rivers into the Volga River basin and continuation of scientific and planning
studies for diversion of Siberian river water into Central Asia and Kazakhstan
have been.recognized as necessary for the cardinal resolution of problems of water
supply in the European territory of the country and regions of Central Asia and
Kazakhstan. .
CSO: 1824/259-P
0
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REALIZATION OF 'LENIN'S DREAM' FOR IRRIGATION OF CENTRAL AS7A URGED
Tashkent PRAVDA VOSTOKA in Russian 15 May 81 p 3
[Article by Prof B. Lunin: "Lenin and the Irrigation of Central Asia"]
[Text] Where There Is Water, There Is Life
"Land is treasure, water is gold." This laconic saying reflected the experience
of many generations of the peoples of Uzbekistan and all of Central A sia. For
under local conditions only irrigation was capable of restoring fallow land to
life and turning it into fertile areas.
It is natural that the vast irrigation and i.mprovement work carried out since
October is put among the biggest economic achievements of the working people of
rhe Soviet Eaat. This work continues on an increasing scale today also, which
was strikingly reflected in the decisions of the 26th CPSU Congress. In the
years of Soviet power this work has become a nationwide concern and assumed un-
precedented proportions and is bearing gener fruit. And this is all the more
noteworthy and instructive in that Vladimir I1'ich Lenin was at the source of
the struggle for water of the working people of the Soviet East.
At the Source oF a Great Undertaking
Showing a profound and comprehensive interest in the historical destiny of the
peoples of the colonial outlying districts of the Russian Empire, long before
the Octover revolution, Lenin was distinctly aware how difficult their economic
situation was under the conditions of the rule of capitalism and feudalism.
Nor did he overlook the lamentable state of affairs in the sphere of irrigation.
Thus, noting the significance of Central Asia for the development of national ,
cotton growing and other sectors of agricultural production, he observed that
here of "159 million desyatins of all land, 156 and three-fourths are arid and
infertile; only 2 and 1/4 have been artificially irrigated."
Lenin also knew of the existence of the Golodnaya Steppe, which V. I. Masal'skiy,
em3.nent connoisseur of the nature, geography and economy of Central Asia, described
in his book "Turkestanskiy kray" [Turkestan] as a waterless "yellowish-gray
dead plain scorched by the sun which with its fiery heat and total absence of
life entirely justifies its name." '
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A book by the well-known economist A. A. Kaufman also attracted Lenin's attention.
This, in Lenin's words, "complete liberal, who was inordinately deferential to
the bureaucracy of the advocates of serfdom" and an organizer of the so-called
Constitutional-Democratic (Cadet), but in practice typically bourgeois-reformist,
Party in Russia, kriew pretty well, however, the actual state of the economy of
~ Russia and its outlying districts, including Central Asia.
I1'ich paid particular attention to the p1acE where the author had written.:
"...the boundless expanses of Turkestan remain underpopulated.... The soil of
many of the 'barren wastes' is the celebrated Central Asian losses, which is dis-
tinguished, given sufficient irrigation, by high fertility.... The total area of
land awaiting artificial irrigation is calculated here at many millions of desyatin."
Having read these lines, Lenin wrote: "These many millions of desyatin both
in Turkestan and in many other parts of Russia 'await' not only irrigation and
all kinds of improvement, they also 'await' the liberation of the Russian farming
population from the vestiges of serfdom, the oppression of the latifundia of
the gentry and the Black Hundred dictatorship in the state."
Lenin's profound thinking was entirely clear: if all Russia were free, its
outlying districts would also be free, and then the real time would have come
not only for irrigation but also for everything necessary for the happy life of
the working people's masses.
And this time, which had only been dreamed about earlier, came with the victory
of the Great October Socialist Revolution. A time of great and long-awaited
changes in the life of the peoples of what is now the Soviet East, including the
= solution of an age-old and most difficult problem--water--for, as Lenin said,
it was particularly important under the conditions of the new social system "to
uplift farming and animal husbandry at all costs," and therefore "irrigation is
needed most of all and will, most of all, recreate the region and revive it, bury
the past and strengthen the transition to socialism."
These words of I,enin's were spoken at the dawn of Soviet power. That power of
the people which had at that time only just begun to stand on its own feet and
was taking the first steps on the primordial ground of socialist transformations.
Right in the first months of Soviet power questions connected with the irrigation
of the Golodnaya Steppe, which had a sorry reputation at that time, also came
into Lenin's line of sight.
A New Time, New Deeds
The Regulations on the People's Commissariat for Farming and its Land Improvement
Department, which had been approved by the RSFSR Council of People's Commissars
headed by V. I. Lenin, provided for the activity of administrations for the sur-
veying and compilation of a plan of irrigation of the Golodnaya Steppe and the
Zarafshan River valley, the organization of reservoirs in the upner reaches of
the Syrdar'ya, the irrigation of Ferganskaya Oblast and the building of irrigation
works in the valley of the River Chu.
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In the presence of the prominent power engineer-scientist and old Bol'shevik
G. M. Krzhizhanovskiy in 1918 V. I Lenin had a talk with irrigation specialist
k V. A. Vasi1'yev--the compiler of the plan of the irrigation of the Chuyskaya
Valley--who had worked in Turkestan prior to the revolution even. Lenin observed
to Vasil'yev that Soviet power "wi.ll be launching something right now" in the
large-scale irrigation plans on the territory of the Turkestanskays ASSR. A big
"irrigated cotton program" was being drawn up with Vladimir I1'ich's knowledge.
Such top specialists as S. G. Aleksandrov, G. K. Rizenkampf, A. V. Chaplygin
and others participated in the preparatory work.
On 24 March 1918 V. I. Lenin chaired a session of the Special Commission with
the status of the Council of People's Commissars. Questions of irrigation in
Turkestan and its financing were discussed and a draft of the corresponding
decree was studied. Following a number of amplifications to it, Lenin signed
it on 26 Marcb. 1918. A report by the most eminent irrigation engineer G. K.
- Rizenkampf on a plan of irrigation operations was discussed the very same day
at a session of the RSFSR Council of People's Commissars in Lenin's presence.
There were new amendments and additions, and it was only after these, on 17 May
1918, that V. I. Lenin signed the "Decree on the Allocation of R50 Million for
Irrigation in Turkestan and the Organization of This Work," which achieved the
most widespread fame and became a part of history.
Impressed by Lenin's concern for the irrigation of the land of Central Asia,
G. K. Rizenkampf, an active participant in the initial operations on the develop-
ment of the land of the Golodnaya Steppe, wrote: "Thanks to the incomprehension
on the part of the highest leaders of state life (of tsarist Russia) of the
economic significance of the resuscitation of Turkemistan, we specialists had
to expend much energy to persuade people of the urgent necessity...for putting
the problem of irrigation on an entirely natural scale.... Following the October
Revolution, we encountered in the Soviet Government a lively interest in questions
of the irrigation of Turkestan."
Landmark in History
Truly, the very date of Lenin's decree speaks for itself: 17 May 1918. One has
to imagine the situation of those days to fully grasp the strength and magnitude
of the unshakable convicti.on of Lenin and the party that, looking into the future,
- it was necessary to embark right away, without delay, on the practical implemen-
tation of the most important tasks of economic building in Central Asia.
And it was a most diff icult situation. Orenburg was surrounded by the White
Guard Uands of the Ataman Dutov. Active forays by the forces of internal and
landowner-bourgeois counterrevolution began to multiply anew. The forces of
reaction in Central Asia began to stir anew, and abroad certain people were totting
up, pencil in hand, how many more days Soviet power would last in Turkestan.
We would add also that we are speaking about a time when even the system of land
irrigation which existed in Central Asia and the irrigation equipment based on
the use of small-scale sources of irrigation were in a state of decline under
the conditions of economic devastation. Many irrigation channels had been des-
troyed by Basmachi bands, and the throughput of the irrigation network was falling
from day to day. The water towers and other of the simplest machine irrigation
facilities were in a state of neglect.
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- But Lenin and the party looked far ahead, clearly realizing that even the most
vigorous measures to restore even the existing irrigation system would be insuf-
ficient to advance the business of the irrigation of major land tracts of Central
Asia. And even thinking about a considerable and rapid development of cotton
growing, grain growing and animal husbandry in the region was impossible without
this.
Whence also the memorable Lenin decree of 17 May 1918, which provided For the
irrigation of 500,000 desyatins of the Golodnaya Steppe of Samarkandskaya Oblast's
Khodzhentskiy District and provision of headworks for an irrigation system covering
an area of 40,000 desyatins of the Dal'varzinskaya steppe, the irrigation of
10,000 desyatins of Ferganskaya Oblast's Uch-Kurganskaya Steppe, the organization
of a reservoir at the Dupulinskiy Bridge "to free approximately 100,000 desyatins
for the cotton plant by way of regulating the flow of the Zeravshan River" and
the completion of the construction of irrigation systems in the valley of the
Chu River over an area of 94,000 desyatin.
The decree contained instructions concerning the procedure and details of the
- financing of the planned operations. For implementation of the planned measures
the Lenin decree established a Special Administration consisting of a technical
_ director, chief irrigation engineers, specialists in various spheres of technology
and economics and others. A staff of the IRTUR of 500 was established. G. K.
Rizenkampf was appointed technical director of the administration.
A number of documents which emanated from Lenin and which were connected with
the dispatch of IRTUR employees to Turkestan is well known. In them Lenin charged
all establishments and officials with "rendering the IRTUR full assistance in
all questions arising in connection with the irrigation work"
A number of instructions and orders also emanated from Lenin with categorical
directions concerning the removal of any obstacles in the activity of the IRTUR,
to which he attached the most serious significance, emphasizing the IRTUR's
"tremendous technical value."
On 27 August 1918 there followed a directive of the RSFSR Council of People's
Commissars signed by Lenin relieving the employees and workers of the Administration
of Irrigation Work in Turkestan of any additional work obligations and preventing
the requisitioning and space reduction of the office premises and apartment
housing of its employees. Lenin personally charged M. S. Uritskiy, chairman of
the Petrograd Cheka, with ensuring the free passage from Petrograd of a train
carrying IRTUR property and personnel destined for Turkestan and with organizing
its protection and provision with all essentials "in view of the particularly
important state significance of the irrigation work in Turkestan."
Shortly after, a train of 30 cars carrying IRTUR property and some of its employees
arrived in Turkestan. Among the IRTUR employees were such eminent scientists
and specialists as V. F. Bulayevskiy, M. M. Bushuyev, V. A. Vasil'yev, S. P.
Trombachev, S. P. Novokreshchenov, R. R. Shreder (subsequently first people's
commissar of farming of the Turkestan ASSR) and others.
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In this "Open Directive" of 27 August 1918 Letiin charged them all in the name
of all the organs of power to give the utmost assistance to K. A. Popov, who
had been appointed assistant chief of operations for irrigation of the Zarafshan
Va11ey, along lines of the Administration of Irrigation Work in Turkestan.
Lenin's Emissaries
As instructed by V. I. Lenin personally, a great deal of work on organization
of the IRTUR was performed by his colleague and emin nt Bol'shevik economist
Viktor Pavlovich Nogin. Later two sessions of the RSFSR Council of People's
Commissars chaired by V. I. Lenin (15 and 22 May 1919) received reports of
V. I. Nogin (and also of N. N. Krestinskiy) on the organization of irrigation
works in Turkestan and their control system. During his stay in the region
Nogin, fully in accordance with Lenin's instructions, constantly stressed that
"irrigation is of tremendous significance in Turkestan. More attention and con-
cern than hitherto must be devoted to this matter. It is essen*_ial to highlight
work on restoring the irrigation installations and make it the subject of the
special attention of all Soviet institutions."
Irrigation issues were also in the sphere of the daily attention of the emissaries
of the party's Leninist Central Committee sent to work in Central Asia--S. I. Gusev,
P. A. Kobozev, V. V. Kuybyshev, G. K. Ordzhonikidze, Ya. E. Rudzutak, M. V. Frunce,
Sh. Z. Eliyava and others. Following Lenin's orders, they all saw irrigation
as an exceptionally important organic part of the entire set of ineasures to
restore and develop cotton growing, animal husbandry and other sectors of Central
Asia's agriculture. Thus Sergey Ivanovich Gusev called for the "preservation
and reinforcement of the irrigation network in Turkestan and the restoration of
intensive crops, pramarily cotton." "The main task at the present time," he said,
"is the restoration of agriculture and irrigation."
In the unanimous testimony of Lenin's emissaries in Central Asia, each time it
was a question of the region's economic situation, Vladimir I1'ich both in corres-
pondence with them and during personal meetings and talks in Moscow inyariably
inquired after the state of irrigation, cotton growing and ani.mal husbandry.
"Second Party Program"
As is known, on the initiative of V. I. Lenin and under his leadership the first
l uniform state plan of the development of the economy of the Soviet republic on
the basis of electrification (GOELRO), which Lenin termed the "second party prog-
ram," was drawn up in 1920.
It is significant that among the scientifically substantiated recommendations
on questions of land improvement contained therein, paramount significance was
attached to irrigation of the arid land of Central Asia.
The "cotton irrigation program" drawn up by G. K. Rizenkampf and other specialists
was made the basis here.
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According to G. M. Krzhishanovskiy, to the question as to the territorial limits
of the country within which the extensive development of electrification (and,
based thereto, irrigation) should be planned, Lenin said: "As far as Turkestan
is concerned,...you can easily include it in the plan now." And a special Turkestan
group consisting of such specialists and consultants as I. G. Aleksandrov,
V. D. Zhurin, V. V. Aleksandrova-Zaorskaya, G. K. Rizenkampf, R. A. Fexvnan,
- A. V. Chaplygin and others was set up to develop electrification and irrigation
plans. As G. K. Rizenkampf wrote: "Turkestan is a country of textile raw material
with great potential.... For this reason the basis of Turkestan's entire economic
program should be an irrigation system which is organically connected wifih it
and which ensues from it," a system without which, he stressed, it will be impos-
sible to very quickly secure the cotton independence of the Country of Soviets.
As the economist V. V. Aleksandrova-Zaorskaya, a participant in the compilation
of the GOELRO plan for the Turkestan region, attests, her husband, Ivan
Gavrilovich Aleksandrov (an outstanding personality of national hydraulic power
and hydraulic engineering), met with Lenin and talked with hi.m about the problem
of the electrification of Turkestan, and, furthermore, Vladimir I1'ich closely
linked this problem with the accomplishment of the task of the extensive artificial
irrigation of the region's waterless land expanses, to which he attached exceptional
importance. Ivan Gavrilovich described how Lenin was particularly interested in
the possibility of improvement of the land in the valley of the River Chu and the
land of the Golodnaya Steppe. "Without irrigation," Lenin said, "we will not
appreciably advance the cotton growing and the entire agriculture of Turkestan...."
Nationwide Concern
Together with specialists, local skilled craftsmen and practical irrigation
workers from the region's indigenous population and the population itself were
enlisted extensively in the implementation of improvement operations, and the
further it went, the more irrigation construction became a concern of the entire
family of peoples of the Soviet East and a striking manifestation of their streng-
thening friendship and fraternity.
Lenin continued to follow the implementation of ineasures to improve and develop
the artificial irrigation network of the land of Central Asia with unflagging
attention.
The widely known Lenin decree "Restoration of the Cotton Crop in the Turkestan and
Azerbaijan SSR's" (2 November 1920) also paid great attention to the implementation
� of "all priority work to put the irrigation installations in order."
In accordance with Lenin's directives, the party Central Committee, the all-Russian
Central Executive Committee Turkestan Commission and the RSFSR Council of People's
Commissars and the Turkestanskaya ASSR Council of People's Commissars adopted
the decision "Practical Measures in Irrigation" on 28 January 1921. Part of
this decision said: "Work on irrigation is deemed to belong to the group of
particularly urgent measures."
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At the reque:st of the Russian Communist party (Bol'sheviks) Central Committee
Turkestan Bureau and on V. I. Lenin's initiative afurther group of experienced
irrigation workers which also included those who had worked here eaxlier was
dispatched at the start of 1921. It was headed by a combat colleague of Lenin's,
a representative of the illustrious Kadomtsev family of professional revolutionaries,
party member since 1901 and active participant in the three revolutions in Russia--
Erazm Samuilovich Kadomtsev--who was appointed chief of water resources of the
Turkestanskaya ASSR.
The same year three trains were sent to Central Asia with equipment for irrigation
construction.
Meeting with delegates, at the lOth party congress (March 1921) Lenin also chatted
with the emissaries of the Turkestan party organization, inquiring, in particular,
about the state of affairs in land improvement and cotton growing.
On 29 April 1921 V. I. Lenin signed a decree of the Council of Labor and Defense
which in anticipation of the possibility of a prolonged dry period in the country
charged khe People's Commissariat for Farming and its local bodies with adopting
urgent measures "to put in order and repair the irrigation installations, watering
systems and irrigable areas in Turkestan, the Kirgiz republic, the North Caucasus,
the Middle and Lower Volga regions and so forth."
All this was all the more i.mportant in that 1921 was accompanied by, among other
things, a new complication of matters. The high water level led to the dilapidated
irrigation network failing to withstand the increased water pressure and to it
breaking down in a number of places. It was necessary to urgently remove the
consequences in order to advance the business of irrigation.
The financing of irrigation construction in Central Asia, primarily thanks to
state resources and, partially, funds collected by the population itself, also
increased constantly.
Thus along Glavkhlopkom lines alone R460,000 in gold equivalent were appropriated
for irrigation needs in 1921 and R9 million in 1922.
In November 1922 Lenin instructed G. M. Krzhizhanovskiy, chairman of the RSFSR
Gosplan, "to present a report in the Council of Labor and Defense on Turkestan's
irrigation system" ana same month sent his inquiry to Tashkent to Ya.E. Rudzutak,
chairman of the Russian Communist Party (Bol'sheviks) Central Committee Central
Asian Bureau, concerning the progress of irrigation work in the region.
The vigorous and persistent measures for the restoration and reinforcement of
the irrigation system in Central Asia produced the first results. In 1922 the
area of irrigable land in Turkestan had risen to 1.18 million desyatins and in
1923 to 1,587,000 desyatin. By 1923 the Ak-Karadar'inskiy and Dargomskiy water
dividers and the Ravat-Khodzhentskiy Works had been rebuilt, the systems of
Yuzhniy Khorezm had been.reorganized on the Amudar'ya and new irrigation installa-
tions had been built at Isfar, Andizhansay and elsewhere. Altogether the irrigated
area of Uzbek.istan had in 1923-1924 been restored to more than 60 percent of the
1914 level.
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Thus even during Vladimir I1'ich's lifetime the path was marked toward the
implementation of increasingly extensive and significant acts in terms of the
irrigation of the land of the Soviet East.
"From a Grain of the Revolution"
Also preserved among the hundreds of inessages and letters to Vladimir I1'ich
from Central Asia are greetings to Lenin (July 1921) on behalf of the workers
of Amudar'inskaya Oblast, in which they, as "a grain of tbe family of social
revolution," assured Vladimir I1'ich that "this grain will bear good fruit on
irrigated eastern land."
Memorable and evocative words: Abiding by them, we also may say today that the
fruit of the magnificent and heroic accomplishments of the peoples of the Soviet
East which have led them under the leadership of the Communist Party to the
. triumph of socialism emerged precisely from such precious grains.
Currently over 900 irrigation systems are operating on the territory of the
republic. The length of the irrigation network i 's in excess of 150,000 kilometers,
while the collector-drainage network is 70,000 kilometers long. Vertical drainage
has been developed extensively, and more than 1,500 wells are in operation. The
total area of machine irrigation now constitutes more than 700,000 hectares.
Some 4.5 billion cubic meters of water--such is the net volume of the republic's
19 major reservoirs.
The man-made Y.arakum River, which bears the name of Lenin and whose waters have
_ turned more than nalf a million hectares of Turkmen land into arable, stretches
more than 1,000 kilometers. In the lOth Five-Year Plan alone more. than 63,000
hectares were irrigated in Tajikistan from state capital investments. In
Kirgizia the Toktugul' GES on the high-mountain Naryn River (that which the
people call the river of friendship) and the enormous reservoir built in the
comnlpx with this plant havP practically solv-d tha_ prohlem of irriga*4.on of
the land of the Fergana Valley.
The scale of irrigation-improvement construction broadens and its efficiency
grows from 5-year period to 5-year period. In Uzbekistan, for example, over
R6 billion v:-are allocated for this purpose and approximateiy 500,000 hectares
of new lands were commissioned in the lOth Five-Year Plan alone. A number of
major reservoirs have been built and irrigation channels, collector-drainage
networks, pumping stations and other hydraulic works are being constructed in
shock manner.
This has been a real exploit of the workers of the Soviet East which they have
accomplished under the party's leadership and on the basis of the behests of
the great Lenin, who dreamed of converting the desert and semidesert land of
Central Asia and Kazakhstan into flourishing and fertile areas of the country.
A high and fitting evaluation of this nationwide exploit was made by Comrade
L. I. Brezhnev, who emphasized that "the history of our sociali~;: motherland has
been and is being made by those who built the Dneproges and Magnitka, who laid
the Turksib and Karakum Canal and who turned the Golodnaya Steppe in Uzbekistan
into a flourishing oasis."
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Toward New Boundaries
Always and in all things looking ahead in Leninist fashion and not being . satisfied
wlth what has been achieved, the party is determining new boundaries of irrigation
and all water-resource construction. The "Basic Directions of the USSR's Economic
_ and Social Development for 1981-1985 and for the Period up to 1990," which were
approved by the 26th CPSU Congress, envisage the need to ensure the further
development of land improvement and to commission through state capital invest-
ments 3.4-3.6 million hectares of irrigable and 3.7-3.9 million hectares of drained
land and irrigate 26-28 million hectares of pasture in desert, semidesert and high-
land areas. We have to achieve an increase in the efficiency of the use of irrigable
and drained land and a reduction in the time taken to reach planned yield on this
land and also a rise in the technical level and quality of water-resource con-
struction and the comprehensive performance of work and land improvement and its
agricultural assimilation.
For Uzbekistan it is planned, among other things, to continue assimilation of
the Karshinskaya and Dzhizakskaya steppes, commission 450,000-465,000 hectares
of irrigable land and irrigate 1.5 million hectares of pasture. In Kirgizia
the task is to commission no less than 75,000 hectares of irrigable land, irrigate
500,000 hecta:es of pasture and complete the construction of the Papanskoye Reser-
voir. Work will be performed in Tajikistan to irrigate land over an area of
50,000-55,000 hectares and on continuation of the irrigation of the Dangarinskaya
steppe. The construction of the Karakum Canal will continue, and 90,000-93,000
hectares of irrigable land have to be commissioned and 6.9 million hectares of
pasture have to be irrigated in Turkmenia.
We are confronted in toto with a Lenin-style extensive and Lenin-style bold and
daring program of further action by the party and people in the struggle for
increasingly new centers of flourishing far.ning.
Despite all this, there are still in Uzbekistan, as throughout Central Asia,
vasc areas of fertile virgin land with a beneficial climate not being fully used
owing to a shortage of irrigation water.
As mentioned in this connection at the 20th Uzbek Communist Party Congress,
given the availability of water resources, it is possible in our republic to
assimilate more than 8 million hectares of new area and obtain therefrom ad-
ditionally much cotton, grain and other agricultural products.
But here also realization of the ancient, Leninist-inspired dream of the diversion
to Central Asia of part of the flow of the mighty rivers of Siberia is drawing
close. The "Basic Directions of the USSR's Economic and Social Development for
1981-1985 and for the Period up to 1990," which were approved by the 26th Party
Congress, charge us with "continuing scientific and planning studies on diverting
part of the waters of the Siberian rivers to Central Asia and Kazakhstan." Wishes
were also expressed at the congress for the completion, as far as possible, of
preparatory work in the llth Five-Year Plan even, meaning the initiation of
practical measures in this field.
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We are separated by many years from the time of the first measures of the Com-
munist Party and Soviet Government headed by the great Lenin for the restoration
and development of the economy of-Uzbekistan and all of Central Asia and
Kazakhstan, including such a very important and vitally necessary field as ir-
rigation. The business of the artificial irrigation of large-scale land tracts
accomplished from 5-year plan to 5-year plan on an increasingly extensive scale
and with the use of the latest technology has advanced immeasurably far. Those
"many millions of desyatins of land" which the great Lenin had in mind when he
- said that only the new, socialist system would be capable of accomplishing not
only the task of the ixrigation of arid land but, the most important thing, the
entire set of tasks whose accomplishment was intended to bring the peoples of
Central Asia and Kazakhstan freedom, happiness and prosperity have already been
restored to life here.
8850
CSU: 1829/270
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DZHURABEKOV ON RIVER DIVERSION
Tashkent PRAVDA VOSTOKA in Russian 30 May 81 p 3
[Excerpt of speech by I. Kh. Dzhurabekov, minister of land reclamation and water
resources and deputy to the Uzbek SSR Supreme Soviet, delivered at 30 May 81
session of the Uzbek SSR Supreme Soviet] . [Excerpt] Aowever we cannot say that.the modern development of our republic's
land reclamation is at the proper level. The development of the economy demands
improvement in the land reclamation network and expansion of the irrigated land.
Much remains to be done in order to use the available water resources rationally
and sensibly and to bring the Siberian river waters to Central Asia.
CSO: 1829/284-P
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ECONOMIC ASSESSMENTS
DECLINING LEVEL OF AND PROSPECTS FOR ARAL SEA
Moscow SOTSIALISTICHESKAYA INDUSTRIYA in Russian 15 Jan 81 p 4
- [Article by T. Abramova, candidate of geographical sciences: "The Aral Needs
flelp"]
[Text] A unique reservoir of the desert zone, the Aral Sea, has recently claimed
the close attention of scientists.
The Aral Sea, one of the world's largest internal bodies of water, has a beneficial
effect on the surrounding territories: it moderates their climate, and the
waters of the Amudar'ya and the Syrdar'ya Rivers which flow into it irrigate
6 million hectares of land.. Cotton, rice, grapes, fruit, citrus fruit and other
crops are grown on these lands. And even the Aral Sea itself gave significant
catches of fish while in the deltas of the Amudar'ya and Syrdar'ya muscrats were
successfully raised. But since the sixties, when more and more water was removed from the tributaries
for agricultural needs, the boundaries of the Aral Sea started to depart notice-
ably fr an those depicted on geographical maps. In 20 years, the sea level has
declined 7.5 meters the sea has lost 15,000 square kilometers of area and 420
cubic kilometers of water. The salinity of the sea has increased, and actual
changes in the chemical composition of the water have taken place. All of this
could not but have an effect on the living conditions of valuable species of
fish and on the raising of muskrats. And the drying-up of the sea led to the
transformation. of the surrounding territories into desert lands.
It is true that for now the economic effect of irrigating the land covers the
losses in fishing and muskrat raising. This'effect will increase in the future
since the territory under irrigation is expected to reach 8-9 million hectares.
But this creates the danger of a sharply reduced area of the Aral Sea.
Geologists and hydrologists, botanists and soil experts, zoologists and ecologists,
economists and paleontologists from various scientific organizations axe working
of the problem of saving the Aral Sea. Among those many scientific groups, an
expedition from Moscow State University in which participated colleagues from our
department of geomorphology, visited the Aral.
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We were especially interested in the Late Holocene epoch of the history of the
Aral Sea (3,000 - 4,000 years ago) when man's agricultural activity started to
have an effect on its level. We studied palinology the study of pollen and
plant spores found on the sea bottom. Their shell, which has tremendous properties
of endurance, guarantees their protection for millions of years. The pollen and
spores obtained from the bottom of the sea tell us about the nature of the vegeta-
tive covering on the shores of the body of water long ago and about the climactic
- conditions which prevailed at that time. This helps us to understand the evolu-
tionary process of the Aral Sea and which natural factors, "giving in" to man's
activity, led to its present state. We found the following:
At ona time the climate was somewhat cooler and damper. The shores held a given
type of flora, where in addition to the grasses typical of desert areas, there
were also trees. The contemporary climate of the area around the Aral from then
on is not conducive to increasing the water levels. In other words, the Aral
will not be able to overcome the ongoing process of the decline in the aquatorial
mass by itself.
How can we help the Aral Sea, which we simply do not have the right to lose?
The most effective measure is to divert part of the flow of the Siberian rivers--
of the Ob' and the Irtysh. But this grandiose and very complicated project is
possible only in the distant future. What can we do in the near future? Scien-
tists propose several projects. Qne of them is given below.
V. Bortnik of the State Oceanographic Institute proposes that the preservation
of the Aral Sea proceed in two directions. First, the water for irrigation
purposes should be strictly regulated, which will decrease the amount wasted.
Second, the Aral should be rebuilt to aecrease its reflective area, which should
decrease the area of water evaporation. T'ao ba:criers must be constructed for this
purpose: one on the north, isolating the Maloye Sea, and the other flooding the
Adzhibash. The remaining river flow will then be directed to this area, and here,
in the protected waters, conditions favorable for fishing will be created.
The result is a more economical use of water and a decrease in evaporation. The
combination of these two factors should result in a real slowdown in the drying-
~ out rate of the sea and in the protection of the outlying areas.
However, in spite of this, the most important.scientific task at this time is
to carefully follow the rapidly changing regime of.the Aral. We are witnessing
a unique experiment in nature, designed by man. Its results are crucially impor-
tant for the planning of future agricultural measures to be taken in the basins
of internal seas and lakes.
9233
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32
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NEW GOALS FOR LAND RECLAMEITION WORKERS AND INVOLVEMENT IN RIVER DIVERSION
Moscow GIDROTEKHNiKA I MELIORATSIYA in Russian No 2, Feb 81 pp 2-5
[Lead article: "New Goals for Reclamation Workers and Rural Workers"]
[Excerpts] A significant event was the publication of the draft of the CPSU
Central Committee to the 26th Party Congress, "Basic directions for the economic
and social . development of the USSR for the years 1981-1985 and for the
period to 1990" which was published in the press for national discussion.
The draft of the CPSU Central Committee is a document of tremendous political
importance which embodies the strategy and tactics of the CPSU on the most impor-
tant questions of the country's economic, social, and spiritual development with
consideration of the specific conditions of the 1980's.
The draft of the CPSU Central Committee envisions the further development of
- land reclamation. It is planned to put 3.4-3,6 million hectares of irrigated
lands and 3.7-3.9 million hectares of drained lands into operation and to flood
26-28 million hectares of pasture in desert, semi-desert, and mountain regions
through state capital investments.
~ The assigned task will achieve a comprehensive increase in the effectiveness
of use of irrigated and drained lands and a reduction in the times to attain the
planned crop yields on these lands. It is necessary to raise the technical level
and quality of hydroeconomic construction, ensure the integrated conduct of work
on land reclamation and the land's agricultural development, and accomplish measures
to improve the reclamation status of irrigated and drained lands. It is.planned
to conduct at outstripPing rates work on reconstruction of existing reclamation
systems and improvement of their dependable water supply, and elimination of
salinity and increased soil acidity.
The draft of the CPSU Central Committee envisions the start of preparatory work
on diverting a portion of the flow of northern rivers to the basin of the Volga
River and continuation of scientific and planning studies on the diversion of the
waters of the Siberian rivers to Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
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In the "Basic Directions," special attention is devoted to questions of protecting
nature. The task of improving nature conservation, intensifying work on the
preservation of agricultural lands, the struggle against their erosion, increasing
or accelerating the pace of work on the recultivation of the lands, and ensuring
their protection against mud streams, landslides, salinization, swamp formation,
flooding, and disruption is posed.
It is planned to speed up the construction of water protection facilities in the
basins of the Black, Azov, Baltic, and Caspian Seas and in important industrial
regions of the country; to increase the capacities of systems for the return
repeated use of water and to develop and introduce at enterprises drainage-free
water-utilization systems; and to intensify the protection of water sources
against depletion. Work should be continued on the protection.and effective
use of unique natural complexes and, first of all, Baykal. The creation of
automated systems for the contrvl of hydroeconomic complexes in the basins of the
most important rivers of the country's European part is envisioned.
The development of reclamation on a country-wide scale is planned in accordance
with the accomplishment of the most important task--improvement of the distribution
of production forces to raise the effectiveness of social production on the basis
of further specialization and proportional development of enterprises in the union
republics and the economic regions in a single national-economic complex of the
country.
The "Basic Directions" envision the accelerated increase in the economic potential
of the eastern regions, the accomplishment of important work on the development
of their natural resources, and the development of the fuel-energy.and raw-materials
bases in Siberia and Kazakhstan. The construction base, housing-public utilities
and cultural-domestic services construction, and agriculture should receive inten-
sified development here.
Envisioned in the republics of Central Asia is the more complete utilization
of labor and natural resources, production capacities, ensuring a further growth
in cotton production, increasing its quality substantially, accelerating the
development of animal husbandry and other labor-intensive branches of agriculture,
and improving the meliorative state and dependable water supply of irrigated
lands.
In the Uzbek SSR, in the Eleventh Five-Y.ear Plan it is planned to ensure the
mean annual production of raw cotton in an amount of at least 5.9 million tons,
including 400,000-420,000 tons of fine-fibred cotton as well as considerable
volumes of grain, vegetables, and other agricultural produce. Continuation of
the development of the Karshinskaya and Dzhizakskaya steppes, the putting of
450,000-465,000 hectares of irrigated lands into operation, and the supplying of
1.5 million hectares of pasture with water are envisioned.
In the Kazakh SSR, measures are being planned to ensure the stable production
of grain, especially of the durum and strong varieties of wheat, and the further
development of animal husbandry. Construction of a network of group water conduits
for agricultural purposes will be continued and it is planned to put 400,000-
42,000 hectares of irrigated lands into operation and to supply 15 million hectares
of pasture with water in desert and semi-desert regions.
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In the Moldavian SSR, it is intended to put 120,000 hectares of irrigated land
into operation, in the Kirgiz SSR--42,000-48,000, in the Tadzhik SSR--50,000-
55,000, in the Armenian SSR--30,000, and in the Turkmen SSR--90,000-93,000. It
is planned to complete the construction of the Papanskoye reservoir and the
provision of water for 500,000 hectares of pasture in Kirgizia and to continue
the development of the Dangarinskaya steppe in Tadzhikistan, the construction
of the Karakum Canal, and the supplying of water to 6.9 million hectares of
pasture in Turkmenia.
The document of the Central Committee CPSU attaches special significance to the
development of science and technology and it is planned to ensure the development
and realization of special-purpose integrated programs for the solution of the
most important scientific and technical problems; to reduce substantially the times
for the creation and mastery of new equipment and strengthen the interconnection
of science and production; and to strengthen the material-technical and test-
production base of scientific research and planning-design organizations.
The task of achieving a fundamental improvement of capital construction and
increasing the effectiveness of capital investments is being posed. For these
purposes, it is envisioned that basic attention will be devoted to ensuring the
timely puttiug of fixed capital and production capacities into operation, concen-
trating means and resources at the most important construction sites, directing
capital investments primarily to the reconstruction and technical reequipping of
enterprises and the completion of construction projects begun earlier, reducing
construction periods, and improving planning and estimating.
A special section of the draft is devoted to a further improvement in administration
and raising the level of management in all links of the economy. During the
five-year plan, a further growth in the national well-being and the development
cf the socialist way of life and the entire system of public relations is to be
ensured on the basis of a rise in the economy and raising the effectiveness of
socialized production.
Land reclamation workers and workers of the village, just as all Soviet people,
inspired by the new horizons which are being opened before them by the draft of
the CPSU Central Committee to the 26th CPSU Congress, are ready to apply every
effort for the successful accomplishment of the tasks of the Eleventh Five-Year
Plan and for the accomplishment of the important tasks of the contemporary state
of building Communism.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Kolos", "Gidrotekhnika i melioratsiya", 1981
6367
CSO: 1824/189
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SADYKOV, LAPKIN, ANTONOV STRESS AGRICULTURAL BENEFITS
Moscow IZVESTIYA in Russian 4 Feb 81 p 2
[Article by A. Sadykov, president of the Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences and Hero
of Socialist Labor; L. Lapkin, academician of the Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences
and V. Antonov, director of the Central Asian State Institute for the Planning
of Irrigation Structures and Rural Electric Power Plants, Tashkent: "Water for
the Heat Belt"]
[Text] The plan of the CC CPSU for the 26th congress Amphasizes that in the
llth Five-Year Plan the stress must be on increasing grain production in the
country's fields as a first priority. In the last five-year plan period three
years were marked by weather conditions which were unfavorable for agriculture.
Nor are we insured for the future against drought in one region of the country
and from excessive moisture in another. For this reason.it is essential that--
- in addition to expanding the sown area a.nd increasing the grain yields in zones
where grains have traditionally been grown--we create regions which guarantee high
yields, based primarily on artificial irrigation in zones which enjoy optimal
amounts of heat.
These zones include the northern part of Central Asia, and in particular the
regions of the Amudar'ya and Syrdar'ya river basins. In terms of the agricultural
output, a hectare of land requiring irrigation here is equal to 8-10 hectares
of the dry farm land of the central belt.
Uzbekistan provides an example of the potential which ihe irrigated lands of
central Asia possess and of how it can be realized with the increasing level of
agricultural technology. We cite a table of yields for basic agricultural crops
(in quintals per hectare):
1960 1970 1980
Cotton 20.3 26.3 33.0
Corn 22.7 27.1 70.0
Rice 18.9 29,3 50,0
Vegetables 96.0 145.0 225.0
,
36
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The republic has the opportunities to obtain in the coming years an average per
hectare yield of up to 40 quintals of cotton, 90 quintals of corn and 60-70 quin-
tals of ricP. Let us cite the example of Bukhara. New canals here have meant
an increase in the amount of water provided, and substantial amounts of virgin
land have been cultivated for the first time; as a result, the yearly cotton
harvests have grown from 400,000 tons tu 630,000 tons. In a short period of time
the grain harvest has increased three-fold.
As we have mentioned Bukhara, let us note that incomparably large areas of virgin
land with high yield potential for soils lie at its very boundaries, the same
A way that enormous expanses of uncultivated lands lie next to the inhabited regions
of the Karakalpak ASSR, Khorezm, Kashkarar'ye, in neighboring Tashauz and Southern
Kazakhstan. Only in Uzbekistan can 8 million more hectares be irrigated.
Let us take pencil in hand. According to studies by economists, four million
_ hectares of the total area which could be irrigated can be planted with corn,
and the country's largest corn field could be established here with a guaranteed
yield of 32-35 million tons of valuable grain per year. From a million hectares
_ of rice there will be a certain six million tons of the "amber grain." Tao
million hectares planted with cotton would still mean six million of Uzbekistan
cotton.
The rapid recovery of the resources invested in the land reclamation in Central
Asia has prompted the accelerated development of the spaces of the Dzhizakskaya
and Karshinskaya steppes, and this represents a living model for those water
management projects which are to be carried out in the Central Asian area of the
future.
The main question here is where so much water is to come from. The water resources
of Central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan are limited. The total flow of the local
rivers is 126.9 cubic kilometers, including 68.1 in the Amudar'ya and 35.6 in
the Syrdary'a. Let us note that figure of 35.6 from the Syrdar'ya. Today the
demand for water from the river is 45 cubic kilometers. And a third of the river's
flow is already used more than once for irrigation purposes as a result of a
system of drains and collecting mains from which the water is returned to the
river. And this is water which is already mineralized; with each increase in the
number of times the water is used, the content of harmful salts grows alarmingly,
and in time this may create a threat to the river itself. It may also cause
irreversible salinization of the lands.
For this reason the only way to solve the problem of how to accelerate the develop-
ment of the production forces of Central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan and to
create here a major base for the production of food and industrial crops is to
divert some of the flow of the Siberian rivers tn this area.
Not only the community, party and economic organizations of the republics of
_ Central Asia and Kazakhstan but also representatives of the environmental protec-
tion services have expressed themselves in favor of a canal bet!.;Ben Siberia and
Central Asia because this alone can prevent the shrinking.of the Aral Sea and
the negative consequences which develop for the entire Aral Sea area.
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A new impetus for this work r,-~as provided by the 25th CPSU Congress, which stipulated
scientific investigations arid planning studies to be carried. out with regard to
the problem of diverting some of the flow from the Siberian rivers to Central
Asia and Kazakhstan. The USSR Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water Management
and its Soyuzgiprovodkhoz Institute have worked out the technical and economic
documentation of the problem.
Measures which are being carried out in U2bekistan at present to make rational
use of existing water resources and find additional ones make it possible to
maintain a fast pace at which new lands are being brought under cultivation and
a high rate of agricultural production for various crops, especially cotton,
until the arrival of the Siberian water. The whole question, after all, is when
will it arrive? If it arrives later than 1990 for the Syrdar'ya basin and later
than 1995 for the Amudar'ya basin, the major national economic benefit which can
be achieved here will be somewhat delayed, and the development of the region's
producti.ve forces will be held back.
The plan of the CC CPSU for the 26th congre.ss reads: continue the scientific
and planning studies on the diversion of Siberian river water to Central Asia and
Kazakhstan." This confirms the exceptional i.mportance of this task. But much
has already been done toward this end. And those opportunities which the country's
land reclamation specialists have been given force us to take a new look at this
problem. For example, the water management organizations of Uzbekistan are today
fulfilling construction and installation work worth more than a billion rubles
per year. Land reclamation specialists in the Russian Federation, Razakhstan,
Turkmenistan and Tajikistan enjoy substantial opportunities.
The Sredasgiprovodkhlopok [Central Asian State Institute for the Planning of
Irrigation Structures and Rura1 Electric Power Plants] is capable of acting as
the general planner for the system in the Aral Sea area. The following are ready
to join the work: Sredazgiprotselinstroy, Uzgiprovodkhoz and the Central Asian
Scientific-Research Institute for Irrigation. Moscow and other cities have sub-
stantial scientific forces for this work.
= For this reason the appropriate clause in the CC CPSU plan for the 26th congress
should be set out in the following form:
"Continue the scientific work, keeping in mind the development of technical
planning for facilities to divert some of the flow from the northern rivers into
the basin of the Volga and of the Siberian rivers into Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
Begin preparatory work on facilities for the first stage of the diversion."
- More powerful pumping stations are required for this construction as well as for
the major irrigation regions which are being created in the Dzhizakskaya and
Kirshinskaya steppes. For this reason the plan for Basic Directions should
be recorded in the following form:
"Provide for the development, manufacture and supply of complete sets of heavy-
duty pumping, electrotechnical and lifting-transport equipment for pumping stations
of large individual capacity."
8543
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IMPROVEMENT OF EXISTING IRRIGATION SYSTEMS ADVOCATED
Tashkent PRAVDA VOSTOKA in Russian 14 Feb 81 p 2
[Prticle by Kh. Akhmedov, doctor of technical sciences, honored scientific and
engineering figure of the Uzbek SSR and head of the Department for the Operation
and Putomation of Hydraulic Engineering Land Reclamation Systems at the Tashkent
Institute of Irrigation and Mechanization of Agriculture: "Raising the Efficiency
of Irrigation"] [Text] "To carry out work at a high tempo in connec*_ion with the
modernization of existing land reclamatiot, systems, improving the
availability of water for them and eliminating salinity and raised
acidity levels in soils
(From the CC CPSU plan for the 26th party congress)
The decree of the CC CPSU and the USSR Council of Ministers entitled "Converting
Over To the New System of Irrigation for the Purpose of Achieving More Complete
Utilizatioci of Irrigated lands and Improving the MechanizaCion of Agricultural
Operations" is recalled. Since that time, a great amount of work has been carried
out aimed at enlarging small irrigated tracts and reorganizing the intra-farm
irrigation and collector-drainage networks and the thorough levelling off of fields.
ti'ork considered to be unprecedented in the history of irrigation has been carried
out directed towards raising the availability of water for the irrigated lands, and
large reservoirs were built, thus making it possible to control the flow of many
rivers which supply water for the canals.
Much was accomplished. However, there were also shortcomings. For example, ths
efficiency factors for irrigation networks in a number of oblasts were as follows:
in Bukharskaya Oblast 0.52, in Surkhandar'ye 0.57 and in Kashkadar'ye 0.45.
The average efficiency factor for irrigation systems in the southern oblasts of
Uzbekistan was 0.50. If we take into account the water losses caused by percolation
on the irrigation fields, by evaporation and by surface run-off, then the efficiency
factor for the republic's irrigation systems does not exceed 0.40. Hence the
irrigai.ion water losses amount to approximately 60 percent, or 27 billion cubic
meters in the basin of the AQDld8r'y8 River and 15 billion cubic meters in the
basin of the Syrdar'ya River. Such a quantity of water would be sufficient for
irrigating approximately 3 million additional hectares of land.
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'I'he hasis for improving the operation of existing irrigation systems is that of
moderni2ati..,n and the technical re-equipping of an intra-farm irrigation and
collector-drainage network. Thus, unless the dirt canals are replaced by
reinforced concrete chutes and a closed (tubular) network, it will be impossible to
automate the irrigation operations and difficult to introduce an A.SU [automatic
control system]. And if the irrigation work is not automated, it will be impossible
to raise the efficiency for the irrigation technique to 0.90 or that for the
irrigation systems to 0.80, instead of the existing factor of 0.28 0.30. This
is why m4dernization is considered to be the number one problem with regard to
solving the problems concerned with water availability and improving the operation
of irrigation systems.
P,t the present time, there is no basis for being unduly disturbed over the rebuilding
and concreting of inter-rayon (mainline) and inter-farm (intra-rayon) canals, the
efficiencv factors for which fluctuate at the present time between 0.95 and 0.80.
In a majority of the oblasts, their beds have already been covered with a concrete
lining, up to 50 percent or more. And then there are the intra-farm canals
greater attention must be given to these canals during the current five-year plan
only from 1 to 10 percent are lined. What are the reasons for this? Insufficient
attention being given to this problem by the ministries for rural, land reclamation
and water management. The scientists and planning institutes have not developed a
technology for the modernization of a farm network. In order to raise the efficiency
factor for 4rrigation systems to 0.80 in each oblast by 1990, it should be raised by
no less Chan 4 percent annually. Each year, approxima.tely 3-5 percent of an intra-
farm irrigation network should be converted over either to chutes or to a closed
network.
I have worked for more than 20 years for the organs of water management. I recall
the effect generated by payments for water, with regard to achieving more efficient
around-the-clock use of it at the kolkhozes and sovkhozes. After the payments were
- abolished (caused mainly by the low capability of the kolkhozes which existed at
that time), the coefficient of water utilization immediately fell.
Today the kolkhozes and sovkhozea are stronger, and they have at their disposal
equipment and cadres of engineers, economists and other specialists. Thus I
consider it advisable to include an appropriate item in the GC CPSU plan for the
26th congress coneerning the conversion of individual irrigation systems over to the
cost accounting system. The introduction of cost accounting and water payments by
the kolkhozes and sovkhozes during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan would definitely
raise the level of water utilization and ensure more efficient use of the waCer
resources. This measure cauld stimulate the modernization of farm irrigation
systems. Indeed, each farm could obtain additional income by increasing the KZI
[coefficient of land utilization] from 10 to 20 percent. This would be especially
i:nportant in those areas where free lands were developed long ago.
I propose that the following supplements be added to the CC CPSU plan: "In 1982, to
convert 25 percent of the irrigation systems over to cost accounting, with the
introduction of payments for water and to complete the conversion of all irrigation
systems over to cost accounting by the end of the five-year plan; commencing in 1982,
begin the complex rebuilding of the irrigation network, taking into account the
completion of modernization work on the irrigation systems at all kolkhozes and
Sovkhozes prior to 1990.
40
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ACADEMICIAN CITES PROBLEMS OF CASPIAN, ARAL, AZOV SEAS
LD230941 Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 16 Feb 81 p 6
[Academician Ye. Fedorov article: "Protecting Nature for People"]
[Excerpt] A serious problem is the destiny of the three seas--the Caspian, the
Aral and the Azov Seas.
The level of the Caspian Sea is falling. True, the fact that the Kara-Bogaz-Gol,
from which 5-6 cubic kilometers of water evaporated annually, has been cut off
from the sea does create a temporary reserve for water consumption in the Caspian
basin. Nonetheless the further diversion of water from the Volga for irrigation
and other needs must be linked with the diversion of part of the flow of the
northern rivers of the USSR's European territory into the Volga.
The significant reduction in the flow of the Syrdar'ya and Amudar'ya Rivers in con-
- nection with the irrigation of lands in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenia is
causing a rapid fall in the level of the Aral Sea. At the same time possibilities
exist for countering this process, to which end appropriate research and planning
work must be carried out in the immediate future.
The use of part of the flow of the Kuban River for irrigation has led to a signifi-
cant reduction in the inflow of fresh water to the Azov Sea, which is increasing
its salt content and causing undesirable ecological consequences leading to a fall
in the stock of valuable fish. There are a number of proposals for optimizing the
ecosystem in the Azov Sea (building a dam in the Kerchenskiy Strait and other pro-
posals). From our viewpoint measures to resolve this problem too must be imple-
mented in the near future.
In connection with what has been said, it would be expedient to incorporate in the
CPSU Central Committee's draft for the 26th CPSU Congress the following proposition:
"To consider it necessary, in planning.new enterprises, to give preference to
closed, waste-free techniques. To complete the necessary research and design
developments and commence work onthe restructuring of the Aral Sea and the optimi-
zation of the ecosystem in the Azov Sea."
CSO: 1829/232
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DIVERSION OF SIBERIA'S RIVERS SEEN AS 'OPTIMUM SOLUTIQN'
Tashkent PRAVDA VOSTOKA in Russian 20 Feb 81 p 3
[Article by E. Rakhimov, candidate of economic sciences, and L. Ramalov, candidate
of geographic sciences and head of sectors for a Council on the Study of the
Republic's Productive Farces of the Uzbek SSR Academy of Sciences: "Optimum
Solution,"]
[Text] Uzbekistan, si.milar to other union republics in the region, has rich
opportunities at its disposal for further and more rapid economic and social
development. This includes favorable natural-climatic conditions, vast areas
of fertile land that are suitable for irrigation and a high pupulation density,
the size of which is increasing with each passing year.
- The one area in which nature dealt unfairly with our kray is water. Computations
have shown that if the present rates for land development are maintained, the
water resources of the Syrdar'ya and Amudar'ya rivers will be exhausted during
the next 5-10 years.
What then will happen to the 8-10 million hectares of empty land which exist in
Uzbekistan along? How much water will be required to restore them to life?
According to studies carried out by the Council for the Study of the Republic's
Productive Forces of the Academy of Sciences for the Uzbek SSR, one cubic meter
of irrigation water will make it possible to develop 70,000 hectares of empty
land and this will provide the national economy with a worthy increase amounting
to approximately 300 million rubles.
A computation reveals that during the next few years the region must be provided
with at least 25-30 additional cubic kilometers of irrigation water annually.
But where will such water.come from?
The scientists, specialists and production workers, following extensive and
laborious studies and a comparison of many variants, have drawn the conclusion
that the only solution for the problem consists of rapidly diverting part of
the flow of Siberian rivers into Central Asia and Razakhstan.
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It is obvious that a portion of the water required can be obtained by means of
internal reserves, by optimizing the regimes for water utilization in the region.
But only a portion. And by no means in the amount mentioned by Doctor of Technical
Sciences Kh. Akhmedov in his article entitled "Raising the Efficiency of Irrigation,"
published on 14 February of this year. By no meana wishing to negate the impor-
tance of his arguments, particularly the need for raising the efficiency of ir-
rigation networks, we believe that the key to solving this problem lies in diver-
ting part of the flow of Siberian rivers and only by this means. No other internal
water resources will make it possible to develop irrigation farming in the region,
at the rates called for in future planning.
The delivery to Central Asia and Kazakhstan of Siberian water will make it possible
to increase considerably not only the production of raw cotton bu': also other
very important types of farming and animal husbandry products, thus completely
solving the food program outlined during the October (1980) Plenum of the CC CPSU.
At the present time, the Soyuzgiprovodkhoz Institute of the USSR Ministry of Land
Reclamation and Water Resources has completed its work on a TEO [technical and
economic substantiation] for the first phase of the diversion, with more than
150 scientific-research and planning organizations throughout the country also
having participated in this work. The TEO has presently been presented for
review by a state committee of experts of USSR Gosplan.
- In view of the great national economic importance attached to accelerating the
diversion of these waters, we propose that the paragraph in the Basic Directions
which touches upon this problem be reworded as folluws:
"During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, to complete the scientific and planning
studies associated with diverting the waters of the Siberian rivers into Central
Asia and Kazakhstan and to commence carrying out the preparatory work for the
priority objectives of the diversion."
7026
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RIVER REVERSAL
Moscow NAUKA I RELIGIYA in Russian No 3, Mar 81 pp 20-22
[Excerpts from article by S. Gushchev: "Renewed Land"]
[Excerpts] A river flows uphill. Talimardzhan is located on a high plateau.
The Amudar'ya River which supplies this area with water is far away--over a
hundred kilometers. The water had to be pumped uphill, lifted 132 meters. It
is not difficult to picture a rushing hundred-kilometer-long river with a series
of six hydroelectric stations (HES), where the water spins the turbines and generates
electric energy. It is more difficult to picture, and still more difficult to con-
struct what is essentially the direct opposite: the same river flowing in reverse.
In place of the six HES there are six powerful pumping stations, requiring a
huge amount of energy, nearly a thousandth of all the electric energy generated
in the country. And this is only the initial phase: The energy comes over high-
voltage electric transmission lines, traveling hundreds of kilometers from the
Central Asian power ring, this unique "mutual assistance bank" of four republics.
Tajikistan with its famous Nurek HES on the Vakhsh River is the largest investor
in this "bank". The Karshi "virgin soil" region does not intend to remain a
debtor: the foundation is already being laid for the 3.2 million kilowatt
Talimardzhan GRES [State Regional Electric Powerplant]. This GRES will operate
on the extensive supplies of local natural gas.
But at the moment, taking energy "on loan," the pumps are forcing the water into
the Talimardzhan Sea--the largest of all the water reservoirs of the republic.
In order to create this sea it was necessary to surround the'dry, dead valley
with a 28-meter-high dam. We drove a full 12 kilometers along the dam; Two billion
cubic meters of life-giving water will be stored behind this impregnable rampart.
Water will flow by on gravity from this sea over the entire Rarshi steppe.
But gravity flow does not mean random flow, wherever or whenever the water wishes:
intense construction is going on and paths for the water are being forged. The
first phase of the irrigation network will cover nearly seven thousand kilometers.
The subdrains will cover about eight thousand kilometers. A tremendous amount
of work and funds and much inventiveness and talent are being invested in all
this. Khamid Faziyevich Gaybullayev, deputy chairman of the Kashkadar'inskaya
Oblast Ispolkom, says: "The canal from the Amudar'ya was constructed in 1973.
In 1986 the net income from these lands will exceed the sum of the capital
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investments. And in another ten years the region will be fully developed.
Remember the saga of Golodnaya Steppe? There 160,000 hectares were developed
over a period of twenty years. Here the same area has been put into operation
in only eight years. The growth rates are noW twice those of the previous period,
and they will soon be four times as high. There is nothing surprising in this--
~ much experience has been acquired and powerful technology is at hand."
Possibilities and prospects. As we have mentioned, the pumping station is simply
a HES operating in reverse. Each pump is driven by a 12,500-kW electric motor
and pumps up to 40 cubic meters of water a second. Within two or three years
motors of twice this power will appear at the installations of the second phase,
and then each pump will supply over 70 cubic meters of water a second.
Ivnn Kondrat'evich Dudenko, operations director of the Karshi Main Canal and
Pumping Stations, says: "The fact that increase of the power of the individual
pumping units is economically advantageous is an obvious truism. But this is not
all, this increase of the unit power corresponds to our goals, our future plans,
both near-term and long-term. The second phase of the project will use 24-kW
engines, but at the Elektrotyazhmash Plant in the Urals thought is already being
given to 99-kW engines. Each such machine can pump up to 200 cubic meters a
second. It won't be long until we will be needing such engines: plans are to
divert part of the flow of the Siberiarr rivers into Central Asia, and we must
prepare for this as soon as possible. Therefore we are looking at the Karshi
system not simply as an enterprise but rather as a sort of research test facility,
where all the new technical ideas will be tried out."
Dudenko continues: "At the present time a conventional telemechanics system is
helping to coordinate the operation of the entire series of six pumping stations,
but with the introduction into operation of the second phase this system will not
be adequate. A more reliable and effective control system will be required.
A computer is already under development in Tashkent for this purpose. When the
ASU [Automatic Control System] goes into operation it will be possible to establish
instantaneously the optimal operating regimes for all the stations. This experience
will later be used for the huge stations which wi11 pump water from the Irtysh
into Uzbekistan..."
On the return trip we stopped at the 28-meter Talimardzhan Sea dam. Water poured
through the six broad pipes in the dam with a deafening roar, and somewhere off
in the distance (beyond the horizon) the shores of the steppe stretched along the
edge of the water. A breeze was driving white-sailed yachts over the waves.
Silvery fish, a good helf ineter long, romping like dolphins, jumped out of the
swirling waters. The reservoir is still being filled, but the fish already feel
right at home.
Per aspera ad astra. "Through difficulties to the stars:" Here this ancient
aphorism is taken nearly literally. The working people of the republic are truly
raising the thorny Karshi steppe to stellar heights, to the heights of a happy
1ife, full of glorious exploits and great achievements.
COPYRIGHT: Zhurnal "Nauka i religiya", 1981
9576
CSO: 1824/197 45
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PROPOSED RIVER DIVERSION CITED AS ECONOMIC BENEFIT FOR NATIONALITIES
LD251709 Moscow NOVOYE VREMYA in Russian No 11, 13 Mar 81 p 21
["Conversation With the Reader" by Albert Pin, member of the NOVOYE VREMYA
Editorial Board]
[Excerpt] The Soviet Union's national economy is an organic amalgamation
[obedineniye] of all the union republics' economies, a unified economic organism
that has taken shape on the basis of the common economic aims and interests of
all nations and nationalities. I will cite just one fact--in my view a typical
one. At the Soviet communists' supreme forum--the 26th CPSU Congress--the dele-
gates proposed that preparations for the majestic task of diverting part of
the flow of Siberian rivers to Kazakhstan and Central. Asia be completed as early
as during the 5-year perioc_1 ,;,ust begun. This will make it possible to irrigate
millions more hectares of land and to increase the development rate of the whole
country's agrarian sector. Those are the kind of concerns we have at the moment,
Mr Michaud.
CSO: 1829/236
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CENTRAL ASIAN DESERT IRRIGATION PROJECTS
East Berlin BAUERN-ECHO in German 14-15 Mar 81 p 7
[Text] Water gives new life. Almost 15 percent of the world`s
population live in arid zones. The spread of the desert today
is a worldwide problem. Each year, between 5 and 7 million hectares
of soil are turned into desert. With the help of the Karakum
Canal and other tremendous irrigation systems, the Soviet Union
has already been able to reawaken millions of hectares of desext
, land to new life. "The 1 million Puds of grain we are getting
from Razakhstan are becoming a habit," said Leonid I1'ich Brezhnev
at the 26th CPSU Congress. How much greater could that figure
" be if the far-flung steppes, with their fertile soils, were to
contain large quantities of additional water? "The expansion
of the irrigation systems in Central Asia" according to the sec-
retary-general of the CPSU Central Committee, is one of the
development problems that is ready for solution. But where is
aYl that water for those vast areas supposed to come from?
Soviet society is in a position to solve these problems which
are so important to mankind, and that is the idea that determined
the content of several discussion contributions at the 26th CPSU
Congress. Mukhamednazar Gapurov, first secretary, Central Com-
mittee, Communist Party of Turkmenistan, like the other represen-
tatives of Central Asia, came out in favor of a positive decision
on the question of diverting a part of the water volumes from
, the Siberian Rivers into that part of the Soviet Union.
Dinmukhamed Kunayev, first secretary, Central Committee, Kazakhstan
CP, came out in favor of preparatory work for this mighty under-
taking. The daring dreams of the peasants in these regions would
thus come true. The family of socialist peoples and all humanity
would bec ane tremendously richer. But neither the transformation
of the desert, not the diversion of the rivers from the north to
the south are easy. The two articles below were written by
experts from the Desert Research Institute of the Turkmen
Academy of Sciences and the Geography Institute, Academy of
Sciences USSR, and show this very clearly. They were tr3nslated by Dr. W. Roemer, Halle, made available to BAUERN-ECHO.
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How Can the Desert Be Made to Bloom?
The deserts of the USSR form a broad belt extending for an area of 1,200 kilometers
from north to south and 2,500 kilometers from west to east. They stretch from
the Apsheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea and the Volga delta all the way to
the eastern edges of the Kyzylkum, Muyunkum, and Sary-Ishikotrau deserts. The
USSR has a total of more than 300 million hectares of desert and semidesert,
almost one-sixth of its entire territory.
The summer temperatures in the Central Asian desert rise to 40-500 C and more.
Machinery and objects made of inetal cannot be touched because they are heated
up to 75-800 C. During the summer it is also difficult to work in the factories,
especially in those where production requires high temperature. The desert heat
is often accompanied by tornadoes and sandstorms. The hot and dry winds stifle
a11 life, cause the leaves of plants to dry up, damage crops,fruits, and pasture-
land. In the winter, there is severe frost and heavy snowfall sometimes lasting
for 2 months. But the desert supplies food for the local inhabitants and the
desert is generous, in its own way.
The irrigated share in the border areas of the desert comes to about 3 percent
of their total surface. This extremely fertile land yields one-third of the
Soviet fiber output (cotton, hemp), more than two-thirds of the raw silk, almost
one-fifth of the vegetable oil (including cottonseed oil) and many fresh and dried
fruits as well as tropical fruits. Animal husbandry is adapted to the desert
and is the second most important branch of agriculture. Just two or three men
can herd 1,000 sheep or goats which can feed the whole year through on the fodder
they find underfoot. The much-praised Karakul sheep can be kept only under desert
conditions. The USSR produces half of the world's Karakul skins. The country
also gets 50 percent of its wool from the desert.
No matter what problems man is confronted with in the desert (technical, industrial,
- and agricultural problems), they can be solved only if he has enough water available.
The main source is local surface and underground water. The deserts in Central
Asia and Kazakhstan contain enough rainwater for the animal herds of the nomads,
small settlements, work stations along gas and other transport pipelines, as
well as drilling teams.
Experts from the Desert Research Institute in Turkmenistan are looking for ways
to reduce the evaporation of water, for example, by applying thin fllms consisting
of certain substances on top of the water surface. Smaller water basins, screened
against the wind, can be protected against evaporatinn for one year with this
kind of film. The efforts naturally are aimed at protecting the big natural
and artificial lakes and basins.
Tn the most recent past, we have also begun to make more use of underground water.
Entire lakes of underground water were discovered near the desert and they are
better investigated here than in other parts of the USSR. A large part of that
underground water is not suitable for supply to the cities and villages because
of its high salt content. But when the salt concentration is no more than
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5-6 grams per liter, it can be used for watering animals and irrigating pasture-
land. Experiments conducted on Kyzyl-Su Peninsula (Bay of Krasnovodsk) for
irrigation revealed that even the water of the Caspian Sea is suitable for
irrigation with 13 grams of salt per liter.
Sea water treatment plants have for a long time been operating in the cities
of Shevchenko and Krasnovodsk and supply huge industrial complexes. Small dis-
tillation plants, with a daily output of as much as 25 cubic meters, are being
built in more remote desert regions. Other desalination methods, such as osmosis
and electrodialysis, are also being used.
Presently, more than 6 million hectares are being irrigated in Central Asia.
The once fantastic idea of diverting Siberian Rivers to Central Asia and
Kazakhstan is now beginning to take on more realistic features. There is no
doubt that Central Asia needs Siberian water. A portion would be used for the
irrigation of the virgin soil of Razakhstan (20-30 million hectares), but most
of the water would be used for irrigation of the desert in the Aral basin.
Moving South
Diverting Water From Siberian Rivers to the South
The serious water shortage in the southern part of the USSR makes it necessary
to divert a portion of the Siberian rivers, which flow north, to the south
during the next several decades. Before such a gigantic undertaking can be
carried out, it is importazt to consider a group of numerous environmental factors.
The idea of diverting the northward-flowing rivers into the dry south has been
discussed for a long time. One of the ma3n problems is connected with the fact
that there is not enough water in the warm, southern regions, where irrigation
in agriculture is most effective.
There are 60 million people living right along the main rivers of Central Asia,
in the south of the RSFSR, in the Ukraine and in Kazakhstan. They and industry,
which has developed in that region, likewise need water. There are two ways to
increase the water resources. First of all, it would be possible to use storage
basins for river flow rate regulation in order to increase the water level in
them during periods of low water. Second, the territorial redistribution effort
could bring water from the big rivers, that flow into the Arctic Ocean, to the
dry regions of the south. This leads to the nacessary problem of creating a
cascade of storage basins along the northern rivers. The water would then be
pumped from the lower basins into the higher basins and so to speak flow up-
stream. The water will then move south, either through the Volga and Kama Rivers
in the European part of the USSR, or in extremely long canals to be specially
built in Siberia.
The partial diversion of river water to the south 4-s being discussed in some
- preliminary projects. For the northwestern section of the Furupean part of the
USSR, there is a plan to divert water from the Sukhona and Onega Rivers and
from Lake Onega into the Rybinsk reservoir and from the Pechora and Vychegda
into the Rama.
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Regarding western Siberia, there is a proposal to take water from the Ob'. An
additional supply of water could come from the Yenisey. It has been proposed
to take water from the Tobol and the Ob' prior to its confluence with the Irtysh.
A canal from the Tobolsk reservoir near Kurgan would run across the Turgay
depression and would end east of the Aral Sea, between the Syrdar'ya and the
Amudar'ya. The capacity of this 2,000 kilometer long canal would correspond
to that of the Dnepr.
Another idea is to conduct water from the Ob' over the Urals to the Pechora
and then on to the Volga and Kama. The water volume would be enough for the
irrigation requirements in the southern European territory and in western.
Kazakhstan and to maintain the water level in the Caspian Sea.
These various projects are the result of an enormous research effort in which
the alternate routes of bringing water to the south were weighed. It is impor-
tant to stress that those alternatives have already been discarded which obviously
could have a seriously negative effect on the environment. For example, the
planners were trying to keep the surface of the man-made lakes as small as
possible in order to minimize the 'Llooding of land. While the original project
for the diversion of the Pechora River`s water into the Rama called for a reser-
voir lake coveringan area of 15,000 square kilometers, its size in the last
versicn amounts to only one-third of that. But the geographers must analyze
in greater depth the as yet not obvious effects that might derive from the
alteration of the river courses regarding the surrounding environment. They
must minimize the negative effects and optimize the advantages to the environment
if the projects are to be carried out.
One of the most difficult questions arising in the project for the diversion
of water to the south, was the water volume needed by the south. The water
volume brought in from the north will depend on the utilization of J.ocal water
resources. The potential of the water volumes annually developing in Central
Asian mountains was figured at 125 cubic kilometers. But it is impossible to
use the entire quantity on account of the annual fluctuations in the water levels
of the rivers and the considerable losses. About half of the quantity is used
for irrigation. During the dry years of 1974-1975, there was not enough water
for irrigation. A system of reservoir dams for irrigation purposes in the Central
Asian mountains could at least partly help make up for the water shortage during
dry years.
In computing the water quantity to be diverted to the south it is necessary
to think of the large water volume which would have to be supplied to the Aral
Sea and the Caspian Sea. It is quite clear that it will not be possible to
preserve these lakes in their original form. Too much has already changed in
them, especially their water level and an entire complex of factors. These
changes must also be considered. It will only be possible to preserve both
lakes if their size is reduced and that would reduce the water losses due to
evaporation. In other words, we are talking about an artificial recovery of the
natural mechanism which in the past has maintained the level and the salt content
of the Caspian Sea.
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The territorial redistribution of water resources is closely tied to the future
of the western Siberian depression, especially the swampy regions. They take
up an area of about 800,000 square kilometers and each year spread by about
another 100 square kilometers. This situation cannot go on. Western Siberian
oil and gas are presently attracting much attention and in this way the first
steps to tackle this swampy terrain are being taken. Other swampy regions are
being recultivated also for agricultural and forestry utilization. Because
many of these swampy regions get their water from rivers that spill beyond their
_ banks, it should be possible to use this surplus water from small rivers as a
part of the water diverted to the south.
The draining of the swamps will very probably reduce evaporation which reaches
a maximum at this time in the wet regions of western Siberia. That could also
increase the water resources earmarke3 for diversion to the south or it could
at least compensate for the water taken out of the Ob' and the Irtysh.
Taking water out of the big rivers--Ob' and Irtysh--will also lower their flooding
to a certain extent and will thus help reduce the swampy surface areas. Regions
into which the water is brought must be inspected because their water balance
will also change.
Another effect, which must likewise be investigated, is the change in icing
_ conditions in the north. It is unlikely that the ice cover will extend to the
mouth of the Pechora and the Ob' and the adjoining Barents and Kara Seas because
the reduced supply of river water will help reduce icing.
Steppe Transformed
Melons Grow Today Where There Used To Be Sand Dunes
So far, 30 million hectares of previously infertile desert and swampland have
been turned into blooming farmland in the Soviet Union.. Just a short time ago,
during the second half of January, the first section of the seventh pumping
station in the Karshi main canal in Uzbekistan was placed in operation. A start
has been made thus toward pumping water from the Amudar'ya into the storage area
of the Talimardzhan sam. From here, tens of thousands of.hectares of cottonland
are to be irrigated in the new cotton state farms of the Karshi Steppe.
In the Tenth Five-Year Plan (1976-1980), more than R1 billion were invested each
year in the water industry buildup in Uzbekistan and 500,000 hectares of new
irrigation area were prepared. The transformed Golodnaya Steppe became a proud
achievement for the Uzbek SSR and the USSR. The need for their irrigation had
already been mentioned in a decree signed by Lenin.
Today, this Former desert region supplies more cotton than was produced in the
entire prerevolutionary Turkestan. Today, 50 newly created state farms are
being operated in this region of the former Golodnaya Steppe. Where there used
to be sand dunes, cotton grows today, canteloupe and watermelon ripen today
and vineyards spread out. The soils of the Karshi and Dzhizak steppes are now
being explored in a complex fashion on ttie basis of these experiences.
5058
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IMPORTANCE OF RIVER DIVERSiON INSOLUTION OF WATER SUPPLY PROBLEMS
Moscow GIDROTEKEINIKA I MELIORATSIYA in Russian No 4 April 81 pp 6-10
[Article by Deputy Minister for Reclamation and Water Ma.nagement 0. B. Kanatov:
"Role and Tasks of User Organizations in Increasing Effectiveness of Reclaimed
Lands"]
- [Excerpt] Economizing on Water
The broad development of irrigation in the country into a primary status has
advanced the problem of supplying enterprises with water. Irrigated farming
- now requires more than half of all water taken from water sources for the needs
_ of the national economy.
Of the overall volume of water intake of 340 km3 about 200 km3 is used for
irrigation, and what is more, about 807. of this water is irretrievable. An
insufficiency of water resources will be experienced in the near future in several
river basins in the southern zone of the country.
Questions of supplementing the water resources of these regions by means of diver-
sion of water from other regions of the country with more dependable water
supplies are being studied and resolved; The flow of the Danube River into
Moldavia and the southern Ukraine, the flow of the Volga into the Azov Basin,
- part of tlie flow of the northern rivers into the Volga, and of the Siberian
rivers into Kazakhstan and Central Asia. However carrying out these measures
demands large capital investments and a signiiicant atnount of i:itne. In this
connection questions of rational and economic use of water take on a special
significance, especially in the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan.
It should be frankly said that in practice that questions of economizing on
water are at the present time being dealt with poorly. Thus, for example, the
water taken for irrigation from the Syrdar'ya River during the vegetation period
last year amounted ta 25 km3, and taking into account the fall and winter water
requirements it is 31 km3, which exceeds the total flow of the Syrdar'ya River.
The excess in the amount of water taken over the volume of existing water resources
under conditions of full streamflow regulation inevitably leads to a water
shortage in dry years. In the future the expansion of irrigated lands in the
Syrdar'ya River Basin should be fully coordinated with plans for the complex
restructuring of existing systems, and chiefly with carrying through measures
for strict economizing on water. -
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Analysis of utilization of water resources of another Central Asian river
the Amudar'ya shows that here too it is necessary to do work on economizing
on water. In the Karakalpak ASSR and the Tajik SSR, for example, the actual
irrigation rates are half again higher than the fixed rates.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Kolos", "Gidrotekhnika i melioratsiya", 1981
CSO: 1824/260
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SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF TERRITORIAL REDISTRIBUTION OF WATER RESOURCES
Moscow EKONOMIKA SEL'SKOGO KHOZYAYSTVA in Russian No 5, May 81 pp 60-64
I
LArticle by Prof Kuz'ma Ivanovich Lapkin, doctor of economic sciences, academic
secretary of the Department of Economic Sciences of UzSSR Academy of Sciences
and Eduard Davlyatovich, candidate of economic sciences, head of the Council
for the Study of Productive Forces of the UzSSR Academy of Sciences]
[Text] The Communist Party and the Soviet government attach much importance to
the intensive development of the productive forces of the country's eastern
regions, including the republics of Central Asia. The social and economic
changes in the republics of Central Asia, attained on the basis of Leninist
national policy, have created favorable conditions for the rapid development
of productive forces and the improvement of production relations.
In Uzbek SSR, there was formed and widely developed an agroindustrial complex
(APR) with cotton growing as its core. Fifty-six percent of the gross social
product and 77 percent of the national income of the republic constitute the
share of the agroindustrial comglex. The material-technical base of the agro-
industrial compler is being improved.
But for the solution of the big social and economic tasks set by the 26th party
congress, the attained level of development of the republic's productive forces
is inadequate.
The republic possesses favorable natural-climatic conditions for the production
of big yields of cotton, vegetables, fruits and a large amount of land suitable
for irrigation. It also possesses the main thing--people provided with advanced
equipment. But intensive operation of Uzbekistan's agriculture is impossible
without artificial irrigation of 1and. Given the conditions of the republic
with the existing level of intensiveness and specialization of farms, the produc-
tion output cost on irrigated lands is greater than on nonirrigated lands by a
factor of 10-12. Under the conditions of irrigation farming, irrigated lands serve as the chief
means of production. Water supplied to the place of use with the aid of irrigation
systems becomes the most i.mportant condition of raising the economic fertility
of the soil. Consequently in irrigation farming, land and water constitute one
single whole. K. Marx indicated this unity when he wrote that land also
implies water..." (K. Marx and F. Engels, "Sochineniya [Works], Vol 25, Part II,
p 164). 54
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Water is distributed extremely unevenly over the territory of our country.
Consump*_ion of water is particularly restricted in the south of the country,
_ particularly in Uzbekistan. Calculations of specialists show that whereas the
per-capita average for the USSR is about 18,000 cubic meters of water flow per
year, that in the south of the country is only 300-1,500 cubic meters or smaller
by a factor of 15-20.
Problems of water supply have become particularly acute in recent years in
connection with the need of boosting qualitative requirements in regard to the
rational use of irrigated land and irrigation water. The opinion has been given
that significant resources of their own water supply exist in the republics of
Central Asia. The data behind this assertion have not been adequately substantiated.
The total annual flow for the basin of the Aral Sea has been set at 127.5 km3. In
recent years (1970-1978), the employment of water for national-economic needs,
with account being taken of the repeated use of a part of returning water and
water losses in beds of rivers and at water reservoirs, on the average amounted
for the basin to 107 lan3 of which more than 80 percent was used in agriculture
for irrigation. A leading place in the use of the water resources of the basin
of Aral sea belongs to the UzSSR. According to the data fo the UzSSR Ministry
of Land Reclamation and Water Resources, 61 km3 (57 percent of the total with-
drawal of water from the basin), including 53.3 km3 for agricultural needs of
which 51 km3 were for the irrigation of land, went to farms in 1978.
The water resources of the Aral Sea are close to exhaustion, and dry years create
significant difficulties in providing agriculture with water with all the negative
consequences stemming from this. Even at the present time, water resources in
a number of rayons of the UzSSR are a limiting factor in the development of
especially agriculture. According to the data of a forecast for the development
of the agricultural sectors of Uzbekistan, shortage of water resources even in
the iinmediate future will amount to 15-20 km3.
It should be specially emphasized that the water deficit may be partially
reduced through more rational utilization of existing water resources by means
of seasonal and repeated regulation over the years of flow of rivers by means
of the construction of water reservoirs; boosting the efficiency of irrigation
systems; improving water use on the basis of refined hydromodular norms and the
introduction of automation of water distribution and mechanization of irrigation:
more economic employment of water in different sectors of industry through place-
ment of low-water intensive production operations and the intro uction of water
recycling technology.
As we know, the construction of water reservoirs does not create new water
resources; their role is tremendous in regulating the reserves of water resources
by years and seasons. The most significant water reservoirs in the basin of the
Aral Sea are close to the end of the Toktogul'skoye at Naryn (Kirghizia),
Nurekskoye on the Vakhsha, the under-construction Rogunskoye (Tajikistan),
Tyuyamuyunskoye on the Amudar'ya, the Andizhanskoye on the Kara.:ar'ya (Uzbekistan)
and several others.
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The guaranteed regulated flow in the basin of the Aral Sea has been set at
105 km3. The possibility of filling up new large water reservoirs to projected
capacity is problematical due to the shortage of water, which is practically
completely utilized for irrigation in the summer and in the nonvegetation period
_ for leaching of saline lands. In Uzbekistan alone, 10-12 km3 of water are
expended in leaching operations.
Hence it follows that until withdrawal of water for leaching of land is sig- .
nificantly reduced, it is impossible to hope for normal filling of water reser-
voirs. Taking into account what has been said, it must be assumed that until
full, comprehensive reorganization of all systems and the diversion of part
of the flow of Siberian rivers, even completely built water reservoirs, especially
those regulated over the years, will operate with reduced supply, which will be
reflected in the size of guaranteed flow for ir.rigation needs, increasing water
shortage during dry years to 40-50 percent.
The level of technical equipment of interfarm and particularly intrafarm irrigation
networks is at present low. According to the data of the UzSSR Ministry of
Land Reclamation and Water Resources, as of 1 January 1979 only 21.3 percent
of interfarm canals were lined with concrete, while the efficiency of the inter-
farm network was 0.82. Only 5.3 percent of intrafram systems were lined with
concrete and their efficiency was about 0.70.
Analysis of the effectiveness of the work done in connection with the reconstruction
of the intrafarm irrigation network in the republic has been hindered by
the fact that this work is being carried out disjointedly, not comprehensively,
and fails to encompass all the elements of the systems; the actual outlays on
their reconstruction are significantly below the norm.
The volume and tempo of reconstruction of intrafarm systems are being restrained
primarily by all the organizational complexity of the work being done on recon-
struction. This work is being done on systems at existing farms with difficult
plan targets for the procurement of agricultural products, and it can be per-
formed on a broad scale only through removal of reclamation fields from agricul-
tural work rotation.
The most radical solution of the problem of reconstruction of the intrafarm
system is possible under conditions of performance of the work within the complex,
with the development of intrafarm resources and the expansion of irrigated land
on farms. But in such a case the volume of capital investment used increases
significantly. A factor retarding the tempo of putting intrafarm systems in
order is the lack of specializ d construction organizations engaged in recon-
struction and special departmental control within the republic's Ministry of
Land Reclamation and Water Resources.
It is necessary to take the following into consideration when calculating the
volume of work relating to the reconstruction of irrigation systems, capital
investment, long-temn efficiency and possible savings of water resources.
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Boosting the efficiency of systems through counterfiltration measures simul-
taneously results in reducing the quantity of returned water, including that used
a second time for irrigation. The positive side of carrying out antifiltration
measures consists in the qualitative improvement of irrigation water supplied
for irrigation through the reduction of the volume of repeatedly used mineralized
return water.
Moreover, in the last 10-15 years there have been put into operation more than
700,000 hectares of new irrigated land on the basis of technically perfected
plans. Irrigation systems embracing an area of 2,500,000 hectares of old irrigated
lands are to undergo reconstruction. The systems to be reconstructed are in
need of varied complex improvements. The work needed for this in terms of com-
position, labor intensiveness and therefore length of time and expenditures will
come close to new construction and possibly exceed it, inasmuch as construction
under conditions of operating systems will be fraught with many complications
that are absent in the building of new ones.
Special attention should be given to the creation of a compensation fund. With
its limited size, reduction of agricultural production is possible; given an
adequate size, it would be very expensive and require much time for its creation.
The possibility is not excluded that in the first 10 years, income from the
reorganized lands will decrease. Thus, for example, according to the calculations
of Sredazgiprovodkhlopok, losses from it for the republic as a whole during
the period of reconstruction will reach in excess of 1,240 million rubles. They
will be subsequently made up, but it is impossible not to take them into con-
sideration, as this will not occur quickly.
According to the calculations of planning organizations, specific capital invest-
ment for the comprehensive reconstruction of all parts of the irrigation network
with concomitant measures, aside from the settlement of farmsteads, is estimated
- at 3,000-3,500 rubles and over the long term up to 4,000 rubles per hectare;
8-10 billion rubles will be required for carrying out this work on the specified
- area. As a result of work done yearly on the reconstruction of irrigation systems,
their efficiency in the period from 1950 to 1975 increased from 0.45 to 0.56,
or 25 percent. While the rate of reconstruction continues at its former level,
�the achievement of an efficiency for the systems on the order of 0.75 would require
- about 35 years. As the result of the reconstruction of irrigation systems of
the republic, savi3gs of water resources after exclusion of returned waters could
- amount to 2-2.5 km . Such an amount of water does not solve the problem of the
deficit of water resources. The water saved will be used locally for increasing
the water supply of already irrigated lands.
For the entire area with old-built systems, about 1 million hectares of land
in the UzSSR are to a varying degree contaminated with salt, the extent of the
collector-drainage network is about 20 meters per hectare, which is below the
norm. The salinity of the water of the Syrdar'ya in its lowest reaches (near
Chardar'ya) exceeds 1.5 g/1; drainage and ground water with a mineralization
of 3-4 g/1 has to be used for irrigation because of the shertub~_ of water. All
this creates a real necessity for the development and implementation of ineasures
for improving the reclaimed state of land.
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Major attention will be paid to improving irrigation equipment. For example,
the ideal planning of sarface fields eases and speeds up irrigation with a
marked reduction of the watering norm, especially is supplied to the fields
from pipe with regulated outlets.
Under certain conditions, sprinkling, droplet and intrasoil irrigation are highly
effective, but their cost is higher than the cost of furrow irrigation. Droplet
irrigation is applicable under conditions where the relief is steep or inter-
sected and soils are strongly or unevenly permeable so that other irrigation
methods would be impossible here. Because of high cost and other limitations
due to natural factors, intrasoil irrigation is used on a small scale. Uzbekistan
has approximately 250,000 hectares suitable for sprinkling.
In the republics of Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, it is expected that over
the long term the furrow method of irrigation will remain predominant and involve
the use of the resources of small-scale mechanization: siphon.pipes, flexible
joints, single dam irrigators and the like; their use boosts labor productivity
in irrigation and improves its quality. But the employment of such irrigation
methods does not significantly economize water.
To determine the size of the area of possible irrigation on local flow, it is
necessary to know what will be the norms of irrigation, the efficiency of the
reconstructed systems and the water resources of local sources. According to
data of scientific institutions, irrigation norms with growth of crop yields
will increase and amount to over the long term on the average 9,200-9,400 m3
per hectare (net).
The flow of the Aral Sea for a year of 90 percent provision is distributed
among the republic.s of Central Asia. The irrigation capability depending on
irrigation norms and the efficiency of the irrigation systems has been deter-
mined. The limit of water for the irrigation needs of the Uzbek SSR has been
set at 55.5 km3 per year.
With account being taken of the planned tempi of work on reconstruction of the
'network, the UzSSR Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water Sources in its cal-
culations employs an efficiency for the irrigation systems over Che'long tetm
of 0.68-0.70. If the irrigation norm be taken net at 9,200 m3 per hectare, then
the irrigation area at this level for Uzbekistan utilizing one's own resources
could total 4-4.1 million hectares.
The maximum possible irrigation area for the republic from one's own water re-
sources in the remote future with an efficiency of the systems boosted to 0.75
and recommended irrigation norms will amount to 4.3-4.4 million hectares. On
the basis of the tasks set before the republic, it was planned to have the area
of irrigation land reach over the long term 5 million hectares. But as the result
of the deficit of water resources, the areas of irrigated land may be significantly
reduced.
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In validation of the necessity of diverting Siberian water, major significance
was attached not only to the exhaustion of the free reserve and growth of the
deficit of water resources, but deterioration of their quality as the result
of possible increase of the level of mineralization and contamination with harmful
wastes of agriculture, industry and transport. According to a forecast of the
Central Asian Scientific-Research Institute of Irrigation, the content of mineral
salts in the irrigation water of the lower reaches of the Amudar'ya during the
period of leaching and vegetation irrigation operations, now amounting to 0.8 g/1,
could grow over the long term to 3 and in the remote future even to 5 g/1 of.
irrigation water. Deterioration of the quality of water resources could be par-
ticularly marked in the lower reaches of the Syrdar'ya and the Amudar'ya.
Vegetation irrigation with water of increased mineralization will produce accele-
rated salinization of the irrigated land: during a season with an irrigation
norm of 15,000 m3, 45 tons of salts will be added to a hectare with 3 g/1 and
75 tons with 5 g/1. The consequence of intensive salinization of the land as
the result of high mineralization of irrigation water will be reduced yield and
even the complete dropping out of the irrigated lands from agricultural production.
_ The situation is complicated by the fact that accelerated salinization will be
observed with a deficiency (more correctly absence) of fresh water for leaching
irrigation operations. Leaching with mineralized water is of little effect;
more over, it results in additional addition to the soil of 15-25 tons of salfs
per hec.tare on a yearly basis.
Water protection measures are of major significance foz reducing the mineralization
of 4rater and salinization of the land. Regulation of river flow, construction
of water reservoirs, concrete coating of canals, transition to methods of irriga-
tion of fields with the aid of concrete courseways and water pipelines [trubovody]
and other progressive methods of reducing filtration and economic use of water
resources will exert a favorable influence on improving their quality, especially
in the lower reaches of the Amudar'ya and the Syrdar'ya.
The effect of the flow of Siberian water on reducing mineralization of the water
of the Amudar'ya (and correspondingly the Syrdar'ya) and the possibility of using
them for the needs of the national economy depend on the degree of mineralization
of the Siberian water as well. Various scientific institutions have variedly
determined it--from 0.2 to 1 g/1. Corresponding calculations have shown that
the diversion into the delta of the Amudar'ya of 9 km3 of Siberian water will
lower the mineralization of the water (mixed) by 1.5-1.7-fold compared to the
initial mineralization (3 g/1) and even with a most high concentration of salts
in the Siberian water (1 g/1) mineralization will be below 2 g/1. Further in-
ci�eased size of the diversion will improve the quality of the water even more.
- Thus, the conservation and protection of the quality of water resources con-
stitute an intricate complex of progressive measures that as a whole ensure the
suitability of water resources for irrigation. One of the most important measures
is that of diverting Siberian water. The Basic Directions of USSR Economic and
Social Development for 1981-1985 and for the Period to 1990 p:cvide for the con-
tinuation of scientific and planning developments for directing a part of the
Siberian rivers to Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The need for increasing the
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efficiency of use of water resources was indicated in the decisions of the
November (1979) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee and the 15th Plenum of
the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan.
The acuteness of solving these problems is to be explained by the fact that
the rate af reproduction of the population of the Central Asian republics exceeds
roughly threefold the average union rate. Therefore one of the chief social
tasks is provision of full employment of the ablebodied population. The problem
of employment is closely related to social-economic tasks of increasing the
national income and per-capita consumption fund as well as provision of the
population with foodstuffs.
The drop in the level of the Aral Sea is exerting an unfavorable influence on
the environment and the social-economic development of the lower reaches of the
Amudar'ya. The probable ecological consequences of the drying out of the sea,
according to,data of scientific institutions (Institute of Geography of the
USSR Academy of Sciences and others), are cooling of the climate, drying out and
_ turning into a wasteland of the delta and floodplains of the rivers, intensive
salinization of soils, reduced productivity of pasturages and so on. The reduced ,
potential of the Aral region as the result of these processes will create additional
difficulties for economic growth and social development of the region.
With the drying out of the sea, the turning into a wasteland of the Amudar'ya's
delta will proceed more intensively over an area in excess of 500,000 hectares.
The only way of saving the land of the delta is to be found in the development
there of rice growing, melon cultivation, alfalfa growing for seed and with
the creation of a reliable feed base--and of ineat stockraising.
Diverting part of the flow of Siberian rivers will exert a major influence on
many aspects of the economy and social life of the republics of Central Asia and
South Kazakhstan. At the present state of study of this problem, the most feasible
method of assessing the effec'tiveness of the diversion on the basis of indicators
of additional production of the gross product, the national income and growth
of employment of the ablebodied population in production is per unit of trans-
ported water resources, that is, per cubic kilometer. Without setting as a goal
the complete elucidation of this question, let us show the effect of the trans-
ported Siberian water on the materials of Uzbekistan--the biggest and most typical
part of Central Asia and South Kazakhstan.
For example, in 1975 one cubic kilometer of water used in agriculture resulted
in a gross production of 78.2 million rubles, a net production of 47.8 million
rubles and enterprise net income of 18.2 million rubles.
According to our calculations, over the long term, on the basis of a certain
improvement of the organization and management of water resources, the average
use of water resources per hectare of sowing will be reduced by 15-20 percent,
while the fertility of soils and yield will grow somewhat. The consolidated
(integral) index of increased effectiveness of production per km3 of water
resources according to a forecasting (expert) evaluation could grow 1.6-fold
compared to 1975. (For a more detailed exposition see "Sotsial'no-ekonomicheskiye
60
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problemy perebroski chasti stoka sibirskikh rek v Srednyuyu Aziyu i Razakhstan"
[Social-Economic Problems of Diverting Part of the Flow of Siberian Rivers to
Central Asia and Kazakhstan]. Tashkent, izd-vo "FAN" UzSSR, 1979, pp 52-56.)
Computation of the economic gains of using the water resources should include
production and income not only produced in agriculture, but also in the industrial
sectors of the agroindustrial complex. In accordance with earlier presented
data, gross production per km3 of used water resources in all the sectors of
the agroindustrial complex amounted to 317 million rubles and gross income to
about 200 million rubles. According to the data uf the scientific forecast,
these indicators will grow over the long term for gross production to 500 million
rubles and for gross (national) income to 320 million rubles.
Of major significance for reimbursement periods of capital investment relating
to the diversion of Siberian water is the additional net income for each cubic
meter of water resources. With this end, it is necessary to take into consideration
not only the net income of agriculture and the profit of industrial enterprises
of the agroindustrial complex, but also the income of the state from processing
of agricultural raw materials into final products sold at retail prices.
According to our calculations, capital investment for diverting Siberian water
to Central Asia will be recovered in 7 years from additional net income.
The growth of all produced national income and accumulations, as well as of a
part of it realized in the republic itself and beyond its borders in other regions
of the USSR, achieves major significance as a source of funds for the creation
of an additional number of work places and assurance of full employment of the
ablebodied population.
On the basis of growth of the indicators of production and prospective norms of
worktime expenditures per unit of different products, it has been estimated
that each additional cubic kilometer furnishes the possibility of providing
productive labor in all sectors of the agroindustrial complex for 43,000 persons,
including no less than 32,000 persons in agriculture.
There will also be prevented certain major losses of the national economy due
to reduction of the natural potential of the Aral area from salinization of
irrigated land, degradation of the soils of the delta and the floodland of the
rivers and the geographic shift of cotton planting to the south and additional
- outlays for expending its sowings in the southern oblasts and so on. (For more
- details see the article by K. Lapkin and E. Rakhi.mov "Experience of Social-
Economic Evaluation of the Consequences of the Drying Out of the Aral Sea" in
the journal PROBLIIKY OSVOYENIYA PUSTYN', No 2, 1979, pp 84-90).
Thus, the inflow of Siberian warer in the amount of 15 km3 and subsequently 40 km3
- will provide the possibility of boosting water availability for previously
irrigated lands, and in addition of irrigating 1 million and then 2 million
hectares. This will make it possible to introduce crop rotatior.s at all the
farms, to increase the area oi irrigated land for rice, orchards and vineyards,
vegetables, fodder plants and to more fully provide the population with products
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of animal husbandry from its own resources. Agriculture will become more inten-
sive, and the national-economic complex of Central Asia and South Kazakhstan
will be further developed.
Scientific and planning studies on diverting of the waters of Siberian rivers
to Central Asia and Kazakhstan in accordance with the "Basic Directions of USSR
Economic and Social Development for 1981-1985 and for the Period to 1990" will
have to be based on national-economic criteria of rational distribution of water
resources. This presupposes a comparative evaluation of irrigation farming and
the whole complex of sectors according to regions of the subcommand zone of the
arterial canal Siberia--Central Asia.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Kolos", "Ekonomika sel'skogo khozyaystva," 1981
7697
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PROGRESS ON RIVER DIVERSION PROJBCTS REVIEWED
Moscow TRUD in Russian 6 Jun 81 p 1
[Article by A. Kuchushev: "Water for Southern Arable Lands"]
[xext] The development of a technical plan for the firat phase of
diverting a portion of the flow of north European rivers into the
Volga Basin has commenced at the All-Union Leading Planning-
Research and Scientific-Research Institute for the Diversion and
Distribution of the Flow of Northern and Siberian Rivers imeni
Ye.Ye. Alekseyevskiy.
The 26th party congress called for preparatory work to be carried ouC in connection
with diverting a portion of the flow of northern rivers into the Volga R;.ver Basin.
The need for this large-scale national econoroic program arose as a result of two
urgent tasks. The firat the creation of zones for the guaranteed production of
agricultural products and for ensuring a normal operational rhythm for enterprises
in the southern Ukraine, the northern Caucasus and the Volga region.
The second task of the mentioned work is that of replenishing the volumes of the
Caspian and Azov Seas and improving the wYter balance of the Volga, Kuban', Don and
other rivers.
We have been informed by the Deputy Director of the institute imeni Ye.Ye.
Alekseyevskiy, V. Altunin, that the preparation of the technical-economic
justification for diverting a portion of the flow of the Sukhona, Onega and Pechora
rivers into the Volga has just been completed. The first phase of this program calls
for the water of the Onega and Sukhona rivers and the Onezhskiy, Kubenskiy, Lacha
and Vozhe lakes to be directed to the Rybinskoye Reservoir along the Volgo-
Baltiyskiy Canal, which will.be completely reconstructed. In addition, this
reconstruction will make it possiblR to improve ngvigation and raise the output of
electric power at the GES of the Volga Cascade.
"Exactly what is included in the preparatory work called for by the 26th party
congress?" such was the question we addressed to the chairman of the Scientific-
Technical Committee of the USSR State Committee for Science and Engineering and lst
Deputy Minister of Land Reclaraation and Water Management for the USSR, P.A. Polad-
Zade.
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.a
"This task" sCated Polad Adzhiyevich, "is very extensive. First of all, the
shortest route must be selected and one which meets the requirements with regard to
geology and relief, compensatory and water-protective measures must be carried out
and a construction base established. Allow me to cite just one example. The
northern rivers, especially the Sukhona, are clogged up with the waste products of
timber rafting and timber processing over a considerable length of their channels.
Initially it will be necessary to carry out water-protective work and only thereafter
will it be possible to divert a portion of the flow of the rivers. Moreover, it will
be necessary to build or expand purification installations at Vologda and in other
industrial centers and to modernize a number of facilities. A considerable amount
of work remains to be carried out here. Indeed, even the power pumping equipment is
for all practical purposes being created anew. Tremendous importanCe is being
attached to displaying a thrifty attitude with regard to the land. And although
the water is intended for use in the arid steppe regions and by cities and villages,
nevertheless the areas to be flooded by the artificial seas must be limited to the
maximum possible degree. This is also one of the more important problems to be
solved during the carrying out of the preparatory work.
The work of replenishing already existing reservoirs and expanding the scales of
irrigation will make it possible to add a new branch to the Volga-Don Canal. The
technical-economic justification for constructing th$s important project was approved
only recently and the technical planning has commenced. Water from northern rivers
will flow along this route to the northern Caucasus and then along the Rostov-
Krasnodar Catial to the arid steppe regions in Krasnodarskiy and Stavropol'skiy Krays.
This will make it possible to add vast areas of fertile land to agricultural
production.
The diverting of the northern rivers into the Volga Basin is entering the practical
stage. The experience accumulated in various regions of our country will be of ~
assistance in successfully carrying out this national economic program.
7026
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SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ANALYSES
J
SOVIET HYDROLOGIST SAYS RIVER DIVERSION NOT A NEAR-TERM SOLUTION
[Editorial Report] The USSR monthly journal PRIRODA in Russian carries in its
February edition a 3,000 word article by Doctor of Geographical Sciences Nikolay
Timofeyevich Kuznetsov. Doctor Kuznetsov is a senior scientific coworker at the
Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences, a specialist on arid hydrology,
and the author of works on the surface waters of Central Asia. In recent years
he has been a scientific leader of cumplex research on problems of the Aral Sea.
The article "The Future of the Aral Sea and the Aral Basin" is devoted to how
best to preserve the ecology of the Aral Basin. Doctor Kuznetsov does not look
to river diversion as a near-term solution to the area's problems, noting near
the end of the article, "Finally, it has becane obvious that the carrying through
of ineasures, directed at the liquidation of undesirable consequences of the
decreasing level of the Aral Sea, should go forth immediately, not waiting for
the diversion of the f low of part of the Siberian rivers into the basin of the
Aral Sea. This necessity is called forth by the fact that otherwise there could
be development of irreversible processes and phenomena, the consequences of
which at the present time are practically unpredictable."
CSO: 1824/162-P
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REVIEW OF BOOK BY S. L. VENDROV ON PROBLEMS OF TRANSFORMATION OF USSR RIVER
SYSTEMS
Leningrad IZVESTIYA VSESOYUZNOGO GEOGRAPHICHESKOGO OBSHCHESTVA in Russian Vol 113,
No 1, Jan-Feb 81 pp 61-63
[Review by N. I. Makkavayev of book "Problemy preobrazovaniya rechnykh sistem
SSSR" [Problems of Transformation of USSR River Systems] by S. L. Vendrov,
Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1979, 206 pages]
[Text] For nearly 40 years of this century, world water resouxce data were
classed with subjects which seemed purely academic and impracticable. Nascent
water management problems were usually confined to a local setting with an essen-
tially limited impact and no interconnection. But even before the white patches
- on hydrographic maps had been complete?;; filled in, it had become evident that
- fresh water supplies were limited and were already small enough that the water
of r.ivers and oceans could easily be threatened. Therefore, water is a substance
of the natural environment subject to strict protection, especially since there
is already an acute shortage of water where it is most needed. Water management
problems have gradually taken on a global character but bitter experience has
quickly shown that no single problem related to water resource use can be solved
without taking into account the processes in the geographical environment that
occur in conjunction with water.
Using the example of USSR rivers, lakes and adjoining seas, S. L. Vendrov's
interesting book gives an idea of the complexity of the problems resulting from
the marginal conditions, including the totality of socioeconomic, natural and
geographic factors. A broad circle of geographers, working in the field of water
resource utilization and environmental protection, should become acquainted with
this book. Although the author employs simple, intelligible language without
resorting excessively to special jargon, this study does not belong to the
category of so-called popular scientific literature. In brief, almost concise
form, the book presents and evaluates different possibilities for solving many
water problems along with the reasons for the author's own opinions on the most
advisable courses for future research.
The book cor.sists oi two parts. In the first, general water resource use problems
are reviewed; in the second the characteristics of contemporary transformation
of the USSR river system are given.
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The first part begins with estimates of the overall magnitude of,water supplies
on the planet, specific river flow allowances per capita of population and the
' magnitudes and distribution of hydropower potential. Based on studies by the
GGI [State Hydrological Institute] and the Institute of Geography of the USSR
- Academy of Sciences, a reduction in the river flow is predicted for the next
decades. With an overall reduction of flow in individual dry years, the normal
water supply may be disrupted, which dictates the need to develop long-term flow
regulation. A separate section deals with a very serious problem, the cost of
water both to the consumer and in monetary terms. A plan is proposed for deter-
- mining the latter and the possibility of rapid and radical reappraisal of value
is also pointed out. "Although river reconstruction was oriented mostly toward
using water for generating electric power several decades ago, now the principle
- of using electric power to produce water, that is deliver it to the consumer,
is being introduced more widely all the time" (p 27). Closely connected with
the cost of water are problems concerning the territorial distribution of indus-
trial and agricultural production. Hence, the prospects of general proposals
for systematic use and storage of water resources at various levels are of great
importance.
The problem of water quality is stated concisely but its main aspects are covered.
The lack of uniformity in quality standards is stressed; for instance, salinity
is 10.5 percent for schools of fish in the Azov Sea while it is 13.6-14 percent
for the eastern part of thp central Caspian. Water quality preservation may
be complicated by the fact the pollution may come from 1) the atmosphere, 2) soil
and fertilizer wash-out, 3) inadequate waste water purification and 4) adverse
effects of flow regulation. Consequently, systems of protective measures must
also be differentiated.
Serious attention is also focused on one of the most challenging problems of
the river-sea system. The Aral Sea, along with the border seas Azov, Black and
Baltic, is considered an example of the fate of internal drainage basins. One
must agree with the author that the construction of dams isolating them from
the ocean is not a panacea that would save seas like cne Azov. Immediate eli.mina-
tion of the shortage in the river water in flow is necessary. However, the
autror's prediction of an expected change in the chemism of the Baltic Sea, based
on the example of the Black Sea, would possibly be less dismal if the results
of research by K. K. Zelenov were taken into acco}int, in which the main source
of hydrogen sulfide contamination of the Black Sea is juvenile water. The picture
of the "death agony" of the Aral Sea resulting from use of the Amudar'ya and
Syrdar'ya for irrigation seldom mentioned in the literature, is impressive.
A large section is devoted to the problem of territorial distribution of the
flow in light of the need to develop a uniform water management system for the
- country. Different flow diversion possibilities are listed and the need for
thorough preliminary evaluation of accompanying measures to change the natural
environment is stressed. The proposal dealing with water diversion from the
lower rez.ches of rivers which wou?.d permit diversion of the flow of northern
rivers without sacrificing land suitable for reservoir construcr_ion and without
disturring natural conditions along the valley deserves attention.
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Interesting questions are raised about the river and city problem. The rapid
change in the nature of urban and suburban areas, the inerease in water consumption
and the volume of waste water and the change in the flow factor are creating
exceptional dynamics of hydrogeological conditions here. Above all, the hydro-
geography is being radically modified. For instance, of 118 earlier existing
rivers and streams within Moscow, 67 have been put into pipelines and 47 have
been filled in. On the other hand, the drain system has reached a length of
200 km. The floodplains of the Moscow and Yauza rivers have been filled in by
a depth of 4-10 m. Historically, it has happened that the majority of large
cities were located on the banks of rivers and the river-city problem is becoming
the basis for a new division of hydrology.
In the second part of the book, a synopsis of a number of regional water manage-
ment problems within the USSR is presented. Special attention is focused on the
Volga-Kama cascade hydrosystem, completion of which is planned for the near
future. It is cha.racteristic that this cascade, which has an enormous total
capacity for water storage, will be able to fully i.mplement only seasonal regulation
of the flow.
A series of questions relating to reservoirs is considered in the remaining
chapters of the second part. Here, the author summarizes the abundant experience
of long-term personal research. The scale of the transformation of the river
flow and of the coastal zone landscapes by reservoirs is evaluated, the basic
indicators which characterize USSR reservoirs are given and they are ranked with
man-made water storage facilities of other countries and the reservoir classification is
substantiated. The reasons for the increase in the cost of hydrosystem development
are analyzed. The author believes the main reason to be an increase in the
cost of land. Over the past 20 years, there has been a three- to eight-fold
increase in the cost per unit of water area of reservoirs. Reservoir operation
is gradually having to change. Even recently, large hydrosystems were planned
primarily for generating electric power. Now, ever more adjustments are being
made in water use to accomodate the needs of fish breeding, agriculture, water
supply and recreation. For instance, a considerable amount of free-running
(not in turbines) water run-off is having to be produced from lower Volga reser-
voirs to irrigate bottom land and create favorable conditions for spawning fish.
In the Volga delta, a special water divider has been built to redistribute high
water from the river to provide for optimum salinity in the eastern part of
the pre-estuarine coastal waters.
There is independent interest in analyzing the lithodynamic processes of coastal
zones and the formation of a sedimentary layer. In the plains products of shore
denudation constitute the bulk of deposits in reservoirs. In the mountains
- river-borne sediments account for most of the deposits.
Only a few of the topics covered in S. L. Vendrov's study which is rich in factual
material, abounds in descriptions of different possibilities for solving water
management problems and full of original ideas are mentioned in this review.
Si.milar studies in which the results of complex physiogeographical, economic,
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geugrripliic and technical research are presented should be republished frequently
_ since, in this century of scientific and technical revolution, technical ideas,
problem-solving methods and scopes of information change rapidly. It would be
highly desirable if the next edition of this work by S. L. Vendrov were issued
in a considerably larger number of copies since the demand for such books is
very high.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Nauka", "Izvestiya Vsesoyuznogo geograficheskogo
obshchestva", 1981
8945
CSO: 1866/102
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WIDER USE OF BLASTING FOR CANAL CONSTRUCTION ADVOCATED
Moscow GIDROTEIGMIKA I MELIORATSIYA in Russian No 3, Mar 81 pp 24-27
[Article by N. S. Grishenko, A. A. Vovk, and 0. A. Chernyshenko: "The Technical-
Economic Advisability of Using Blasting in Land Improvement Construction"]
[Text] Successful performance of plans for land improvement construction involve
an enormous and constantly growing volume of earthwork. In the lOth Five-Year
Plan this volume was about 40 billion cubic meters. At the same time, th.e growth
in the fleet of earthmoving machines is lagging behind growth in the volume of
earthwork, and the productivity of these machines is still low. The use of blasting
in earthwork eliminates the need for a large number of earthmoving machines and
makes it possible to reduce expenditures for purchasing them, cut labor expen-
ditures, and save additional expenditures for construction of social-domestic
and cultural facilities and training skilled cadres for operating earthmoving
machines. We might observe that millions of rubles are spent for housing con-
struction in undeveloped regions.
Acco�rding to the figures from the technical-economic substantiation for con-
struction of the large Transvolga trunk canal, labor expenditures are 354,915
worker-days using earthmoving machines and 226,476 worker-days using blasting.
Work on earthmoving machines will require 514 workers a day. Expenditures for
the construction of social-domestic facilities will be almost 2 million rubles.
Long years of experience have demonstrated that the use of blasting in construction
of land improvement facilities under different natural conditions significantly
increases labor productivity and reduces the time required to put projects into
operation and begin using improved land (2-3 and 1.5-2 times respectively). In
construction of the fourth phase of the Karakum Canal, for example, each shift
worked a canal section from 60-80 to 150-200 square meters for a length of
500-700 meters by using blasting. The work was done by a brigade including one
blasting expert and several workers. A brigade was equipped with a multibucket
excavator, trencher, and bulldozer. The productivity of one worker was about
10,000 cubic meters per shift. With earthmoving machinery they could not cever
more than 100 meters of canal per shift in these conditions, and labor produc-
tivity is one-third to one-fourth as high.
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The quality of work is better with blasting, and the bottom of the excavation
is strongly compacted, which reduces filtration from the canal.
Broad application of blasting is being held back by the relatively high cost of
working a cubic meter of ground. But this approach to evaluating the efficiency
of blasting in land improvement construction is one-sided, because it does n.ot
consider the final results.
In the stage of technical-economi,c substantiation of construction technology the
most important criterion for selection of an alternative is calculated expenditures,
that is, the prime cost of doing the work (current expenditures) and the cost
of the productive capital used in the construction process (one-time expenditures)
multiplied by the coefficient of efficiency. A comparison of the calculated
expenditures for different alternatives makes it possible to identify the most
progressive and economical method of doing the work.
But this only identifies efficiency in the construction stage. A full and objec-
tive evaluation of alternatives must also identify efficiency in the stage of
operating the project and take into account all types of effects from reducing
construction time. This method of calculation will reflect most fully the wisdom
of the alternatives being selected because it will disclose capital investment
by years of construction, a key indicator which detennines the le�iel of efficiency
of the expenditures being made. The calculation of expenditures should consider
the part of the prime cost of construction-installation work, which besides being
very important, is not included in direct expenditures or overhead. This part
is directly proportional to th.e number of workers and their total wages. (This
includes supplementary pay resulting from a raise in wages for middle-category
workers, which is not included in direct expenditures, and expenditures related
to the piece-rate-bonus system of wages, which are not included in the cost of
construction-installation work).
According to calculations, the profit that is received from introducing improved
lands into use ahead of schedule not only compensates for the additional expen-
ditures but exceeds them. Therefore, when compiling plans the possibility of
using blasting and the efficiency of expenditures in the process of building
and oparating projects must be considered. Earthwork technologies based on blasting
are most progressive because, with an overall growth in the puUlic productivity
of labor the share of past labor is rising significantly and the share of live
labor is declining. This is extremely important for rational use of productive
forces. Expenditures for explosives constitute 60-90 percent and more in the
total cost of blasting work, while the share of wages is 1.5-10 percent (where
earthmoving machines are used wages are 25-40 percent).
The use of blasting makes it possible to intensify expenditures of resources
(materials, labor, and finances), that is, to use a greater concentration of
past and live labor per unit of time.
Fur'ther development of technologies based on blasting and the scale of their
application in land improvement construction depends significantly on the develop-
ment and ratification of norms, a system of evaluation and comparative technical-
economic indicators, and methods of calculating the efficiency of using blasting.
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One of the fundamental defects of current evaluation techniques is the lack of
an interrelationship between the effect of blasting on operating parameters and
properties of excavations and the final economic indicators. This interrelation-
ship must be taken into account when solving the problem o� optimizing the initial
parameters of blasting. An increase in the parameters of the excavation made
by blasting increases not onlq the expenditure of resources, but also the profit
received from operating a structure with larger parameters. On this basis it
is possible to determine the volume (or stages) of construction by the area of
the canal cross-section or length. This is important in building large projects
such as the canals to divert part of the flow of the Siber?.an and northern rivers
to the Aral Sea and the Volga basin.
The parameters of the canal (L = 2,300 kilometers; H= 40 meters, and B= up to
350 meters) for diverting part of the flow of the Siberian rivers and the corres-
pondingly enormous volume of earthwork, the extended nature of the work front,
and the complex natural conditions will require corresponding capital investment.
Therefore, it is important that the organization of canal construction by phases
guarantee that improved lands can be put into use during the very first period
of construction work.
A convincing example of the advisability of building a large canal in phases
is the diversion of water from the Amudar'ya River to the southern and western
regions of Turkmenistan. By the start of 1979 the Karakum canal zone had 535,000
irrigated hectares. Because the canal was launched in phases expenditures for
construction had already been repaid while investment was 16.61 billion rubles,
while net income (in the form of the turnover tax) from sale of the output of
cotton processing was 1,432,500 rubles. In the case of three sovkhozes, Moskva,
50 Let SSSR, and Karakumskiy Kanal, capital investment totaling 63.2 million
rubles was repaid in five years.
A distinctive feature of construction of the canal was the establishment of
stages within each phase (by length of the canal) and the constr+.iction of a
pioneer canal. During the process of operations the canal was widened to the
planned dimensions by dredges. For construction of the pioneer channel of the
fourth phase of the canal plans envision plasting out the excavation with linearly
elongated charges.
Our experience in building the Karakum canal confirms the wisdom of building
the canal to divert the waters of the Siberian rivers in phases. According
to technical-economic substantiation data developed by the All-Union State
Planning Institute for Water Management and the work of the Trust for Drilling and
Blasting Operations of the Main Administration of Special Industrial Construc-
tion, it is advisable to do the blasting work in segments of 1,017 kilometers
(see Table 1 below).
Where only earthmoving machinery is used the cost of one cubic meter of excavation
is 0.55 rubles, but the time of construction will increase by three years.
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Table 1. Basic Technical-Economic Indicatora of Construction
of the Diversion Cana1 by Blasting Out
Indicator
Segments of Canal Route Total
for Route
I II III IV
Length of Segments, km 207.5 485.0 324.8 1,017.3
Projected Volume of Excavation,
thousands of m3
Aveage Cross-Sectional Area,
M2
Usable Debris, %
Average Cost of Canal:
Rubles/m3
Rubles/km
Labor Productivity
m3/Worker-Shift
Construction Time, years
399,385
1,000,555
684,460
2,084,400*
1,924
2,063
2,104
2,049
68.8
76.7
69.1
72.7
1.05
0.77
1.10
0.92
13,837
1,035
1,587
1,375
1,111.6
1,750.4
1,404.0
1,483.2
7
7
7
7
*[Russian text reads, "20,844,000," an apparent error.]
According to data from the Trust for Drilling and Blasting Operations, the use
of blasting will make it possible to double labor productivity and reduce con-
struction time.by 20 percent, capital investment by 50 percent, the need for
earthmoving machinery by 40 percent, and the need for labor by almost 40 percent.
Experience shows that single-trench detonation of explosive charges is most
efficient. Because the canal is roughly 10 times as wide on top as it is deep,
it is necessary to determine the optimal area (S) of the cross-section of the
pioneer canal for which the national economic impact in the process of operation
will be maximal. The technical-economic heart of this question is to maximize
the elements of profit growth in comparison with the element of growth in total
expenditures related to the unit of ineasurement of the final result of construction
given a definite (unambigiious) value of S.
Analysis of the results of an approxiamte calculation of the technical-economic
efficiency of building the pioneer canal by blasting out where Q= 1,000 cubic
meters per second and S= 1,700 square meters showed that the optimal value of
S was approximately 600 square meters when Q= 420 cubic meters per second.
The weight of the explosive charge per meter of length in this case is 1,200
kilograms placed at a depth of 10 meters. It is economically advisable to use
blasting to make a pioneer canal whose cross-sectional area is 42 percent of the
planned area; the technical-economic efficiency is less where this area is
increased or decreased.
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During construction of the collector network it is often necessary to greatly
_ intensify earthwork. For example, during construction of collectors in the
Karakum canal zone the use of blasting makes it possible to significantly speed
up the introduction of earthen structures and raise the efficiency of capital
investment in land improvement. The reduction in construction time for the
~ Kaakhkin central collector from 18 to eight months for the Western interfarm
collector from 14 to five months, and for the Tedzhen southwestern collector
from 22 to 16 months, made it possible to save more than 6 million rubles (see
Table 2 below). Under these same conditions the construction time for collectors
using earthmoving machines in fact exceeds the projected time.
Table 2. The Economic Efficiency of Using Blasting in
Construction of the Collector Network in
the Karakum Canal Zone
Kaakhkin Central Collector
Blasting Using:
Mechanized
Indicator Method Igdanite Arocnonite Granulite
Total Estimated Cost, 216,000 607,000 1,222,000 131098,000
rubles
Prime Cost of Con- 204,000 573,000 1,153,000 1,036,000
struction-Instal-
lation Work,
rubles
Capital Investment in 216,000 607,000 12222,000 1,098,000
Production Capital,
rubles
Construction Time, 18 8 - _
months
Labor Expenditures, 6,290 3,907 3,495 3,907
worker-days
Calculated Expen- 225,000 498,000 120002000 901,000
ditures, rubles
Supplementary Economic - - 22059,000 -
Impact, rubles
' Full National Economic - 1,786,000 1,284,000 12383,000
Impact, rubles
[Table continued next page]
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[Table 2 continued]
Western Interfarm
Collector
Mechanized Blasting
Indicator Method Method
Total Estimated Cost, 181,000 931,000
rubles
Tedzhen Southwestern
Collector
Mechanized Blasting
Method Method
1,969,000 2,913,000
Prime Cost of Construc- 171,000 879,000 1,857,000 2,748,000
tion-Installation
Work, rubles
Capital Investment in 181,000 931,000 1,967,000 2,913,000
Production Capital,
rubles
Construction Time, months 14 5 22 16
Labor expenditures, worker- 5,582 4,754 65,780 56,700
days
Calculated Expenditures, 192,000 775,000 2,033,000 2,699,000
rubles
Supplementary Economic - 2,409,000 - 3,481,000
- Impact, rubles
Full National Economic - 1,826,000 - 2,815,000
Impact, rubles
It is advisable to build the collector networks for the existing Caspian and
Chernozemel'skiy irrigation systems by blasting. Construction of this network
with earthmoving machinery will take five years. The gap in time between the
- introduction of irrigated lands in the Chernozemel'skiy irrigation system and
the runoff collector leads to constant groundwater flaoding of the estuaries
over a significant area and results in considerable loss to agricultural produc-
tion. But the use of blasting will make it possibl.e to cut construction time
from four to two years. As a result, the volume of production of economic output
will increase and the economic impact will be mpre than 2 million rubles (see
Table 3 below).
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Table 3. Basic Economic Indicators for Alternatives
of Constructing the Chernozemel'skiy Collector
Capital Calculated
Investment, Expenditures, Discount
rubles rubles Factor
Discounted
Calculated
Expenditures,
rubles
Mechanized Method
'
Year 1
1,592,000
1,665,000
1.1
1,513,000
Year 2
1,592,000
1,665,000
1.21
1,376,000
Year 3
1,592,000
1,665,000
1.331
1,252,000
Year 4
1,592,000
1,665,000
1.464
1,140,000
Total
6,368,000
6,660,000
5,281,000
Blasting Method*
Year 1 4,504,000 4,817,000 1.331 3,619,000
Year 2 4,504,000 4,817,000 1.464 3,291,000
Total 9,008,000 9,634,000 6,910,000
Y,National Economic Impact of Blasting Method - 2,495,000 Rubles
The decline in the cost of explosives and their use in complex ground conditions
will make it possible to significantly increase the efficiency of blasting in
land improvement work. Studies show that in flooded ground it is possible to
use improved igdanite enriched with hydrophobic additives. The cost of this
igdanite is 2 to 2.5 times lower than the cost of ammonite. According to cal-
culations, such a substitution would make it gossible to save some 1.5 million
rubles in construction of the segments (total length of 140 kilometers) of the
Transvolga main collector canal. In addition, comprehensive mechanization and
automation of charge work is an important reserve for reducing the use of
resources in blasting.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Kolos", "Gidrotekhnika i melioratsiya", 1981
11,176
CSO: 1824/240
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SELECTION OF STRATEGY FOR UTILI7.ATION OF WATER RESOURCES, INCLUDING RIVER
DIVERSION, DISCUSSED
Moscow VESTNIK MOSKOVSKOGO UNIVERSITETA, SERIYA 5: GEOGRAFIYA in Russian
No 2, Mar-Apr 81 pp 30-33
[Article by A. I. Duvanin]
[Text] The shortage of fresh water, manifested with more and more certainty,
has generated a search for the possibility of increasing the runoff in basins
where a shortage of water is especially acute. The idea of solving this problem
by diverting part of the flow of the narthern rivers into rivers carrying water
into the southern arid regions of the country took shape. Implementation of
these plans is extremely expensive. Moreover, it is impoxtant that intrusion
in the system of mainland runoff is inevitably contradictory to many of the
natural processes interacting with this system. A considerable amount of research
work is being carried out to predict the consequences of this intrusion which,
however, does not guarantee that negative consequences will not appear. The
simple discussions presented below can apparently be kept in mind when selecting
the strategy of utilizing water resources.
Let us agreE to consider only the realistically visible river flow within a
certain basin among the entire water balance.
Let us denote Q as water flow rate in the gauging section, Q� as the total
water flow rate participating in surface streamflow of the basin, K as the
coefficient of the combination of losses of streamflow caused by unforeseen
natural processes--E (evaporation, filtration and so on) and by water intake for
_ universal economic purposes--T, i.e., let us assume that
K = f (E, T).
With regard to the values adopted for consideration, the equation of the balance
of expenditures under the stipulated conditions can be presented in the form
Q + ICQ = QE, (1)
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i.e., the flow rate at the gauging section with regard to all losses of stream-
flow within the river system of basins is equal to the total flow rate participa-
ting in the surface streamflow of the basin.
It follows from (1) that
Q = QE
l+x '
(2)
This expression can be related to the total flow of many basins or to continents
~ as a whole. The greater the spaces thus characterized in this manner, the more
valid will be the well-known conclusion that the water resource is 90 percent
determined by the external moisture circulation in the continent-ocean system.
Convincing data are presented in investigations on land hydrology on a decrease
of river streamflow due to an increase of irreversible water losses with intensively
developed production activity. In a recently defended doctoral dissertation
on formation of surface waters, R. K. Klige detexmined the decrease of water
resources of continents inherent for the modern state of the climate. He writes:
"Investigation of the processes of global water exchange shows that under the
existing climatic conditions directional variation af the water balance on the
earth's surface will occur in the future, as a result of which the water reserves.
of the land will be reduced by a factor of approximately 133 km3 annually, while
the volume of glaciers will be reduced by a factor of 183 km3 annually, with
subsequent supplementation of the world ocean at the rate of 316 km3 annually" [1].
For orientation in these figures, we add that, according to data of the same
a�ithor, the modern worldwide river streamflow comprises 44,182 km3 annually,
while the total volume of water on land is a total of 58.4�106 km3.
It is calculated that tiLe total water consumption for difterent economic needs
alrPady comprises approximately 4,000 1m3 annually, i.e., almost 8 percent of
the worldwide river flow. It is assumed that this indicator will increase
approximately twofold by the year 2000 [1].
One should add to the foregoing that, along with the indicated phenomena, increasing
oil pollution of the ocean surface leads to a redtiction of evaporation. As a
result, there is the danger of additional drainage due to weakening of external
moisture circulation between continents and oceans. This is indicated by data
of steady evaporation in the presence of an oil film on the surface of the sea
which indicate that the decrease of evaporation may comprise from 10 to 50 percent
within the oil pollution spots. This rapidly increasing possibility of weakening
of the external moisture circulation me its close study and quantitative analysis.
Thus, there are at least three globally manifested processes of
which will lead in the foreseeable future to a reduction of the
resources. They should be taken into account when solving the
these resources for the long term.
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identical trend
continental water
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The search for the capability of increasing the flow rates of rivers which support
development of industry and agriculture has as its purpose finding an additional
flow rate 6Q in order to find
Qll: = Qz + eQ, (3)
pQ may include more terms than those for which we are interested in here,
assuming that
dQ = QE � f(S) Qo + Qn+ (4)
where f(S) is determined by the total measures for conserving water resources,
Qo is the water flow rate possible due to distillation of sea water and QPis
_ the water flow rate achieved by diversion of the flow from other river basins.
The use of undergraund waters and the capability of intensifying glacier melting,
i.e., finite water sources to exploitation of which one must approach carefully,
are deliberately not considered here.
The latter two terms (Qo and Q) of formula (4) may not occur in all regions.
However, where the use of distilled sea water begins, sQCiety is joined to a
practically inexhaustible water resource. The achieved flow rates Qo will in-
crease in time as technology is improved without negative consequences for the
development of nature.
Diversion of water resources from other river basins (Qp) where, strictly speaking,
there is no surplus water since accumulation of moisture is not noted on the
continents but on the contrary progressive drying of the continents intensified
by anthropogenic processes occurs, is a quite di�ferent matter. Under these
conditions redistribution of sCreamflow on large scales is an undesirable dis-
turbance, not clear in consequences, in such a complex area of natural evolution
as the water balance of vast territories. Water can be borrowed in the best
case only within a limited range, quantitative analysis of which is very com-
plicated. The anticipated effect from diversion of streamflow with a rapidly
growing need for fresh water can only be a temporary and very expensive situation.
The given concepts acquire tangible clarity and development after substitution
of QE and dQ from (3) and (4) into (2), which yields
1 f (5I) Qo Qn
Q = QE 1 I(E. 7) + 1 /(E. ~ ~ 1 f(E, 7) ~ (5)
Since Q in the last term is a decreasing value while f(E, T) in the denominator
will ingvitably increase in time, the effectiveness due to diversion of river
flow will decrease in the future and will approach zero. The value of Qo in
the second term may increase without limit or which is better to say may increase
according to f(E, T) with an increase of engineering capabilities. Consequently,
_ the behavior of thi:c term makes the contribution of funds to develop it rational
for the future. ihis has obviously been understood in a number of countries
where distillation of sea water is being developed.
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The first term of formula (5) is interesting in its meaning. It indicates that
the value of Q provided by natural water circulation may even achieve an increase
if the fraction which denotes the ratio of water-conservation measures to the
function of losses (natural and technogenic) is greater than unity. There is
the clearly marked goal here of managing the consumption of water resources along
the line of water conservation and a reduction of natural and economic losses
of water.
Very large contributions of funds to the country's water management are inevitable.
In view of the foregoing, they are rational for optimization of the last two
terms of the future water resource. In their direction, all the efforts to which
op'~_mization of the first term will be related, correspond to improvement of
the system of exploitation by society of such a vitally important natural resource
as fresh water. Upon generalized analysis of the problem, streamflow diversion
from some regions to other regions can be justified as a special measure of
regulation when in the final analysis this will provide an increase of the
coefficient of formula (5) at Q:2 that meets the condition of profitable use
of the resource. Diversion of river flow on large scales to bring some finite
and essentially seeming moisture reserve into social production after realization
of it leaves no other alternatives except returning to the first two terms of
the total resource considered above. Is it not better from the very beginning
to orient the strategy of material contributions to supply of water resources
on the basis of the first two terms of formula (5)? Improvement of the exploitation
of a realistically available water resource in nature and supplementation of
this resource as need increases by distillation of sea water (the second term
of formulu (S)) are provided in them.
The meaning of the results for the second term can be seen in compensation of
fresh water losses, inevitable in social production, from the world ocean. The
water flow rate achieved by distillation may be regarded as supplementation
of the effect of external moisture circulation when it becomes inadequate as
society dEveLons.
- An example of the very undesirable degradation of the Sea of Azov, already begun,
can be presented. In the principal sense, it is quite rational to stop this
process by spanning the Kerch Strait and by delivery of water from the Black
Sea (salinity of 16.5 percent), distilled to the salinify required to maintain
the natural salinity of the Sea of Azov (10.5 percent). With the existing con-
sumption of fresh water, it is obviously quite unrealistic to achieve positive
changes in the condition of the Sea of Azov by diversion of fresh water of the
northern rivers through the Volga and Don river basins. We touch on this example
as the essence of the possible basis for solving the water-management problems
of the south in this direction. There are many interesting aspects here which
require special consideration in the technicai and economic sense.
Thus, distillation of sea water, bringing it into social production and into
natural cycles is equivalent to intensification of the moisture circulation
between the ocean and continents, which will apparently become one of the timely
problems of the life support of society in the near future.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Klige, R. K., "History of Formation of the Surface Waters of the Hydrosphere,"
author's abstract of doctoral dissertation, Moscow, 1979.
COPYRIGST: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo universiteta. "Vestnik Moskovskogo
universiteta", 1981
6521
CSO: 1824/200
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DISCUSSION OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON USING VOLGA WATER RESOURCES
Moscow VODNYYE RESURSY in Russian No 2, 1981 pp 12-21
[Article by G. V. Voropayev and T. N. Ivanova, Institute of Water Problems of
the USSR Academy of Sciences: "Problems of Comprehensive Utilization of Water
Resources of the Volga-Akhtube Floodplain and the Volga Delta"]
[Excerpts] Throughout the last two decades the problem of comprehensive utiliza-
tion of water resources of the Volga basin has been one of the most crucial
water management problems in the country.
Economically, the Volga basin is a most important region; about one-fourth of
the population is concentrated here and one-fourth of the country's agricultural
and industrial output is produced here. The Volga-Caspian basin provides one-
- half of the catches of fish from all of the country's internal waters and about
90 percent of the catches of fish of the sturgeon family [figure 1, figure 2].
The most important water consumers in the Volga basin are hydroelectric power,
water transport, fishing, irrigated farming and municipal and industrial water
supply. The problems related to management of the utilization of Volga water
are complex and multifaceted. They require the solution of such other probtems
as multi-purpose utilization of water resources from water reservoirs, the
quality of the water, the spring conditions for the release of water on the
lower Volga (below Volgograd) under the conditions of a regulated streamflow,
the maintainance of a certain volume of flow into the Caspian Sea in order to
avoid lowering its level, and so forth.
Because of the increased water conswnption in the Caspian basin and the arrears
in the implementation of ineasures that reduce the rates of this increase and also
reduce evaporation and augnent the inflow into the sea, the water management
situation into the basin will become even more complicated in the near future.
There arises an additional complex of new questions related to the intended
withdraw 1 of part of the water from the Volga to be transferred into the Don
before we begin to compensate for this withdraw 1 by diverting part of the flow
from northern and northwestern rivers into the Volga basin. Moreover, in the
future the Volga wi11 become not only a consumer not only of northern water, but
also a route for the diversion of water into the adjacent basiris of the Don
and Ural [figure 31.
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But under present conditions-, before the territorial redistribution of the
water, the task of fuller and optimal comprehensive utilization of existing water
resources of the Volga basin remains exceptionally complex and crucial. More-
over, as the experience of past years shows, there are real possibilities of
adopting and implementing rational decisions concerning the allotment of water
- on the Lower Volga.
Since it is impossible to touch on all the diversity of problems of the Volga
water management complex in one article, let us consider only the questions
relating to comprehensive utilization of water resources in the lower reaches
of the Volga (below the Volgograd hydroelectric power complex), that is, the
Volga-Ahktuba floodplain, the Volga Delta and the western steppe lakes in the
Volga Delta, taking into account, of course, the interconnection between the prob-
lems of this region and the overall tasks of controlling water utilization in
the Volga-Kama basin.
- While hydroelectric power engineering, water transport and irrigated farming in
the Volga area are interested in accumulating water in the water reservoirs
during the spring with its subsequent utilization throughout the course of the
year, water consumers of the lower reaches of the Volga, primarily fishing and
agriculture, are interested in maintaining the distribution of the river's water
at a level close to the unregulated (natural) one throughout the course of the
year. Moreover, the transfer of water into the river basin reduces the overall
flow into the mouth areas and the northern Caspian, increases the amount of waste
and returned water which is polluted by industrial and communal-household wastes,
herbicides, toxic chemicals and so forth. This leads to a lowering of the level
of the sea which is unfavorable'from the standpoint of the reproduction and fat-
tening of fish, to a distribution of the currents of fresh water in the delta
and the northern Caspian, and to a reduction of the biogenic current and the
~ feed base. All this creates conflicts which become more critical in dry years.
The existing forms of water management in the lower reaches of the Volga have
become more complicated under the conditions of the natural flooding of the
flood plains, the delta and the western steppe lakes of the Volga Delta during
the spring high water season. And the accumulation of the spring stream flow
- in the reservoirs during the spring (the usual volume of accumulated str.eamflow
necessary for filling the water reservoirs to the normal planned mark amounts
to 60-70 cubic kilometers) actually precludes having the high water period on
the Lower Volga in its natural volume, heights and duration. Therefore along
with planning Lower Volga hydroelectric power centers, in connection with the
- expected changes in the hydrological conditions, we have planned a radical re-
structing of the lower reaches of the Volga: a changeover from extensive forms
of management, which depend entirely on the spring high water time on the Volga,
to controlled water management through improvement of spawning grounds, the con-
struction of a water divider at the top of the delta, the creation of fisheries
and spawning and growing areas, and artificial irrigation of agricultural land.
- But this grogram is being implemented extremely slowly. While certain measures
' have been taken in the area of fishing (a network of fisheries qnd spawning and
growing areas have been created; in 1975 construction was completed on a water
divider at the top of the delta which is intended for providing for reproduction
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of semi-anadromous fish through maintainance and improvement of spawning conditions
in the eastern part of the delta, regardless of the hydrological situation, the
spawning beds are being improved, and canals have been dug for the fish [figure 2]),
in the area of agriculture almost no practical steps have been taken in this direc-
tion. This causes harm to all branches of the national economy, and, in the
final analysis, considerably reduces the effect from comprehensive utilization
of the Volga's water resources.
As for the methods of optimal distribution among the water consumers of the
Volga water at our disposal, one should admit that water management science
has still not met the demands of practics in regard to this issue and annual
decisions concerning the volume and the hydrograph for release of water are
adopted by directive agencies without proper scientific substantiation. The
lack of economic criteria makes it impossible to evaluate reliably enough the
harm that is caused to various branches of the national ec.onomy because of the
limitation of water consumption during dry years and, consequently, to determine
correctly the amount of special spring release of water into the lower reaches
of the Volga. The methods that have been developed for economic substantiation
of the utilization of water for fishing and agriculture are especially poor,
which considerably complicates the solution to the problem. Still, a number of
organizations are successfully conducting research in this area. In particular,
a large amount of work has been done by the ENIN imeni G. M. Krzhizhanovskiy.
The results of this research, after comprehensive and profound analysis and dis-
cussion, could be the basis of practical methods for distributing the Volga flow.
In the near future, before the beginning of the diversion of some of the flow
from northern rivers into the Volga, the operating conditions of the water reser-
voi.rs of the cascade will be more difficult and less favorable for all of the
Volga water management complex, including for the Lower Volga, because of the
increasing unrecycled water consumption from the Volga and its tributaries.
A considerable portion of the water will be removed during the vegetative period,
which leads to an increase in draw off during the summer, and during dry years,
to interruptions in the guaranteed releases of water for shipping below Volgograd.
All this in the final analysis can lead to a deep draw off in the water reservoirs
of the cascade in the period before the high water period and, consequently, to
the necessity of using more water in the spring to fill them. Therefore the
release conditions on the Lower Volga, as the main measure for providing for
the interests of fishing and agriculture, will not be able to fully solve the
problem of controlled water management.
An important stage in the creation of controlled water conditions in the lower
reaches of the Volga is the water divider that was constructed at the top of
- the delta. With a reduction of discharge of wat2r at the top of the delta to
12,000-14,000 cubic meters per second, it should provide for a guaranteed supply
of no less than 81000-9,000 cubic meters per second into the eastern branch
of the Volga-Buzan in order to flood the eastern part of the delta. This unique
hydrotechnical structure includes two ship locks, two ship basins with imm3rsible
gates, two fish ladders so that anadromous fish can move to the upper reach.es,
- 33 water areas of the low-head dam with gates, a fixed dam which covers part of
the river's bed, and a dike which divides the delta into eastern and western parts.
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The water divider makes it possible, with reduced expenditures of water at the
top of the delta, to considerably improve conditions for the reproduction of
semi-anadromous fish in the Volga-Caspian region, which is especially important
during dry years. In the latter case, working at the end of the high-water
season, the water divider makes it possible to considerably increase the length
of the high-water season in the eastern part of the delta.
At the present time there are certain difficulties with putting the water divider
into operation. These are caused mainly by the fact that the agriculture of
this region (the western delta and the western steppe lakes of the Volga Delta)
is not prepared for the conditions of its operation. Moreover, the work of the
water divider, especially during the first years, can disturb the conditions for
the migration of sturgeon since their basic breeding school migrates through the
western shoals (up to 80 percent). The water divider's structures to allow
fish to pass through are inadequate for sturgeon and therefore during its operation
it is necessary to provide special transportation for spawning sturgeon into
the upper level of the water divider's dam.
The water divider is actually the final stage of the hydrotechnical structures
- on the Volga and Kama, and the conditions for its operation should be coordinated
with the operating con itions of the Volga-Kama cascade of hydroelectric power
units and the hydrological, hydraulic, hydrobiological, icthiological and water
management conditions in the delta and the Northern Caspian. The creation of
. the corresponding system of mathematical systems, computer programs and software
for them would contribute to a successful solution to this problem. Existing
mathematical models can serve as a basis for the creation of these models,
particularly models for control of the conditions of the cascades of the hydro-
electric power units, which solve individual problems related to the operation
and design of water management systems, including the Volga.
Since the research begun at the Institute of Water Problems of the USSR Academy
of Sciences using space methods is related mainly to problems of the Northern
Caspian and the coastal mouth areas of the rivers and has not set the goal of
solving water management problems related to optimizing the utilization of water
and land resources of the Lower Volga, it would obviously be expedient to develop
a program for a special space investigation regarding this problem, taking into
account the specific nature of the necessary information, its precision, its
periodicity and so forth.
A temporary scientific and technical commission was created in 1978 for developing
prcposals regarding regulating the utilization of water below the Volgograd
water reservoir during the spring period for the needs of fishing, agriculture
_ and power engineering and in connection with the operation of the water divider.
The commission included representatives of all interested departments and scientific
and planning organizations. Having analyzed the water management situation in
this region during the last 20 years (that is, after the construction of the
Volgograd hydroelectric unit) on the basis of a large amount of factual material,
the commission developed a number of concrete recommendations. In particular,
it recommended:
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1) in connection with the startup of the Lower Kama and the Cheboksary hydro-
electric power complexes, to revise the rules for the utilization of water
resources of water reservoirs of the Volga-Kama cascade; in the future, before
the revision and adoption of the new rules, to not increase the existing total
dispatch volume of draw off from the reservoirs before the high-water season to
more than 60-70 cubic kilometers;
2) to improve the existing methods of prognosis, especially for anomalous
conditions of water supply, to refine the basic prognosis correctly and promptly,
and to make the prognoses more operational;
3) to take the necessary measures for eliminating obstacles to normal operation
of the water divider--to increase the rates of work for reclamation of agricul-
tural land and improvement of water supply for existing irrigated land, and to
transform the eastern delta into a fish preserve zone, limiting the development
of agricultural production there, especially rice plantings which require the
application of toxic herbicides;
4) in order to increase the efficiency of the operation of the water divider,
to create in the area before the delta normal paths for the passage of breeding
fish that are going to the spawning beds in thz eastern part of the delta, to
step up full-scale hydrological, hydrochemical and icthiological research and
_ regular observations of the operation of the water divider in order to evaluate
its effects on the hydrological and fishing characteristics of the delta and the
Northern Casl.dan, and also full-scale research for evaluating the effectiveness
of the operaLion of individual structures of the water divider.
Taking into account the exceptional importance of branch interests that are
involved in the distribution of the spring flow of the Volga and the concrete
peculiarities of national economic situation, the commission considers it expedient
to continue in the future the practice of discussing the conditions of spring
releases from the Volgograd water reservoir on a liigh interdepartmental level,
especially with the expected water shortage.
The commission also stated that the lack of inethods for ovtimal distribution
of the Volga's spring flow that are scientifically substanti3ted with economic
criteria makes it possible to evaluate objectively and reliably t:he damage caused
to various branches of the national economy- and, consequently, to correctly
designate the amount of the spring release. Therefore it was recognized as
expedient to continue the work being done at the ENIN imeni G. M. Rrzhizhanovskiy
for determining the economic effectiveness of the releases into the Lower Volga
_ and to organize extensive discussion of it with the participation of all interested
ministries and departments. It was recommended that institutes of the USSR
Academy of Sciences be enlisted in the methodological development for estimating
the optimal releases along with departmental research organizations.
The following basic conclusions can be drawn from what has been said.
1. At the present time the Volga water management system does not have a homo-
geneous administrative structure; while above Volgograd most of the Volga flow
is regulated by a cascade of water reservoirs and controlled water management
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has been created, below Volgograd there are still essentially extensive fonns
of management which appeared under the conditions of natural, unregulated flow
_ and they have not been changed completely in keeping with the new conditions.
Only in years with plentiful precipitation (when it supplies less than 10-15 per-
cent of the water) do favorable conditions arise for the majority of branches
of the complex and in other years all branches of the economy of the Volga water
management system sustain large losses.
2. In the next few years it will be necessary to eliminate the disproportion
in the economy that has been noted. Taking into account the fact that the
Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, the Volga Delta and the Northern Caspian are important
regions of the country for the reproduction of valuable commercial fish, and
also the fact that the soil and climatic conditions of this region contribute
to the development of highly productive agriculture here, it is necessary to
create controlled fishing and agriculture in this region on the basis of effective
utilization of the water divider and the development of technically improved
devices for reclamation of agricultural land.
3. Controlled water management in the Volga water management system depends
largely on the effectiveness of the prediction of the spring inflow of water,
adjustment of the predic�..ioas and also the existence of substantiated methods
~ for econoinic evaluation of the effectiveness of comprehensive utilization of
water resources.
4. A solution to the problem of efficient optimal administration of the Volga
water management system requires the development of a system of mathematical
models and the development of research for obtaining initial information, including
with the help of space methods. Such a system of models can serve in the future
as the basis for the creation of an automated control system for the Volga
water management system, the need for which will increase as the water manage-
ment becomes more taut.
BIBLIOGRAPAY
1. Avakyan, A. B., Ralinin, G. P., Sharapov, V. A., et. al., "Problems of
Comprehensive Utilization of Water Resources of the Volga Basin," VODNYYE
RESURSY, No 4, 1975.
2. Borodin, L. A., "Fish of the Lower Volga or Lower Reaches of the Volga,"
PRAVDA, 9 December 1979.
3. Voropayev, G. V., "Tasks and Organization of Scientific Research in Relation
to the Problem of Redistribution of Water Resources," VODNYYE RESURSY, No 3,
1976.
4. Yelakhovskiy, S. B., Tsvetkov, Ye. V., "Control of Conditions for the Operation
of IIydroelectric Power Stations in Energy and Water Management Systems,"
GIDROTEKH. STRVO, No 6, 1979.
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5. Krasnozhon, T. F., Semenov, S. S., Sukhanova, I. G., "Investigation of the
Mouths of Rivers, Coastal Zones and the Bottom of the Northern Caspian Using
Remote Control Methods,".VODNYYE RESURSY, No 1, 1979.
6. Tsvetkov, Ye. V., "Raschet optimal'nogo regulirovaniya stoka vodokhranilishchami
gidroelektrostantsiy na TsVM" [Calculation of the Optimal Regulation of the
Water With Water Reservoirs of Hydroelectric Stations With a Digital Electronic
Computer], Moscow, "Energiya," 1967.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Nauka", "Vodnyye resursy", 1981
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CSO: 1829/231
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RIVER REVERSAL PROJECT DISCUSSED BY TURKMF.N GEOGRAPHER
Ashkhabad TURKMENSKAYA ISKRA in Russian 15 Apr 81 p 3
[Article by A. Zhumashov, candidate of geographical sciences and senior scientific
worker at the Turknenistan Scientific Research Institute of Soil Science: "A
Reliable Forecast"]
[Text] The Soviet republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan have great opportunities
at their disposal for further economic and social development. This includes
favorable natural-climatic conditions, the availability of labor resources and
most important--vast areas of fertile land. In Turkmenistan alone, 12-13 million
hectares are suitable for irrigation and yet only 1 million of these hectarPs
have been so developed.
As is known, the principal sources of water in Central Asia are the Amudar'ya
and Syrdar'ya rivers. However, c anputations show that based upon the present
rates for land development the water resources of these rivers will be completely
exhausted by 1990. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that the water supplies
in Central Asia permit the irrigation of no more than 8.5 million hectares,
whereas the land available in this region is three times greater than this. Thus,
in 10 years time it will be impossible to expand still further the areas under
crops in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Equal importance is also attached to the
fact that less and less water from the Amudar'ya and Syrdar'ya rivers is reaching
the Aral Sea and the level of the latter is thus dropping at a rapid rate. In
particular, this is being accompanied by the destruction of many plant communities,
by the disappearance of hundrQds of thousands of square kilometers of pasture,
by the loss of fishing resources and by other unpleasant consequences.
The problem with regard to searching for an additional source of water for
Central Asia and Kazakhstan has become very acute. A portion of this water can
be obtained through more thrifty use of water and yet this will not solve the
problem fully. As a result of thorough anarysis, the need was recognized for
diverting a portion of the Flow of Siberian rivers to this region.
The "Principal Statutes With Regard To Diverting a Portion of the Flow of the
Siberian Rivers Into Central Asia and Ka.zakhstan" were developed during the
past few years and they have been approved by the State Comcr.ibsion of Experts
of USSR Gosplan,
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The general planner for the Siberian-Kazakhstan-Central Asian Canal the
Soyuzgiprovodkhoz Institute of the USSR Ministry of Land Reclamation and Water
Management with participation by more than 150 scientific research and planning
organizations throughout the country has already performed a considerable amount
of work. Of several variants for the route of the future canal, the most accep-
table is the one where the water intake is carried out at the confluence of the
Ob' and Irtysh rivers. The technical-economic justification for the first phase
of the canal has been presented to the State Committee of Experts of USSR Gosplan.
The plans call for the water to flow through the canal, built parallel to the
Irtysh River, into the Tobol'sk Reservoir. From here it will be delerered by
means of pumps via the Turgayskoye Depression to the south and reach the Syrdar'ya
River in the region of the city of Dzhusaly. Subsequently, it will flow between
Tuyamuyun and Takhiatash to the Amudar'ya River. The first phase of the main
canal will be completed here; the canal will be continued across the territory
of Turkmenistan to the Caspian Sea. The overall length of the future canal to
the Syrdar'ya River 1,725 kilometers and to the Amudar'ya River 2,270
kilometers. Initially the canal will supply 25 cubic kilometers of water annually
and eventually up to 60.
The "Basic Guidelines for the Economic and Social Development of the USSR During
the 1981-1985 Period and for the Period Up To 1990" call for the continuation
of scientific and planning work aimed at diverting the water of Siberian rivers
into Central Asia and Kazakhstan. This is understandable. Indeed, such diversion
work is a very serious undertaking and one which requires thorough consideration
of all of the "pros" and "cons" and the prevention of possible adverse con-
sequences.
One vital task at the present time is that of forecasting possible changes in
the natural complexes as a result of such diversion work. Only a reliable fore-
cast will make it possible, in a timely manner, to erect a barrier in the path
of undesirable phenomena. Special studies are being carried out in this regard
in both Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Since 1977, such studies have been underway
at the Turkmen Scientific Researr.h Institute of Soil Science and at an association
of Turkmensel'khozkhimiya. The :;cientists of our institute must furnish an
evaluation of the changes in the soil-reclamation status of the territory of
Turkmenistan in the zone affectPd by the redistribution of the flow and develop
recommendations for preventing adverse effects of the diversion, improve the
fertility of the soils and raise their productivity. The zone of the Karakum
River was selected as an analogue.
A group of scientists created for this purpose exposed a number of changes which
had taken place over a period of 20 years of land reclamation development, changes
which had to be taken into account in the forecast. With the arrival of the
Amudar'ya water in the interfluvial areas of the Amudar'ya-Murgab and Murgab-
Tedzhen rivers, the entire complex of physical-geographic factors on the piedmont
plain of Kopetdag changed relief, plant cover, animal world, hydrogeological
conditions, water-salt regime of the soils and so forth.
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The Karakum Canal is being built with no waterproofing of the bed. Thus, as
a result of filtration, the surface water level in the zone of the canal rose
from a depth of 10-25 meters to 1-3 meters. At the same time, an increase
is taking place in the overall mineralization of the surface waters. The maximum
width of the zone of influence of the canal in the regions of the settlements
of Karametniyaz and Nichka, for example, reaches 40-45 kilometers in a northern
direction and 10-35 in the remaining sectors. As a result of the operation of
the first phase of the canal, the sandy-desert soils in some sectors are being
transformed into meadow soils having varying degrees of salinity. To the north
and northeast of the Karakum Canal, numerous filtration lakes have appeared.
The biological productivity of the natural pastures is decreasing, while their
usage is being intensified. The salinization of territories adjoining the canal
continues.
- The filtration processes are exerting a direct effect with regard to a change
in the mineralization of the water in the canal itself. Our studies have estab-
lished the fact that an increase in the mineralizaLion of water is being observed
along the length of the.canal. For example, in June 1978 the salt concentration
in the second phase of the canal was 0.48 grams per liter and in the third phase
it had increased to 0.68 grams per liter. When such water is used for irrigation
purposes, 6-10 tons of salt per hectare are added to the soil's thickness annually.
In the absence of artificial drainage, salinization and water-logging of land
irrigated by this water will occur roughly 5 years following the commencement
of irrigation.
The land of a large portion of the flatland territory of Turkmenistan, deemed
suitable for development, consists of loose and mainly sandy-loamy types of
deposits. Thus, there can be no doubt regarding the threat of a sharp rise in
the surface waters in northern, northwestern and southwestern Turkmenistan and
in a portion of the piedmont plain of Kopetdag, coincidental with the arrival
in these areas of the Siberian water. One can only conclude that the construction
of the new canal on the territory af our republic must be accompanied by water-
proofing measures. Moreover, with the development of the lands in these regions,
it will be necessary to build collector-drainage systems and to line the intra-
farm canals on a more extensive scale.
However, for a forecast of the soil reclamation changes caused by irrigation
to be sufficiently complete, a great amount of work still remains to be carried
- out. A network of basic experimental farms should be organized in the republic,
the land of which should consist of the principal types of our soils. Indeed,
different changes will take place in the takyr-type and sandy-desert soils.
Here, on the land of experimental fa*-,-..s, studies will be carried out on the water
and salt regime of soils and on the Tiater and physical properties involved in
lhe cultivation of various crops cotton, corn, alfalfa and so forth. There
is obviously a need for increasing the small number of individuals presently
working at the institute on problems associated with the diversion of the Siberian
waters. If this is not done, it will be impossible to develop a reliable forecast
of the consequences of irrigation,
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It is also considered advisable to create a scientific center in Turkmenistan
for coordinating the entire complex of studies associated with diverting the
Siberian rivers into the territory of our republic.
It is believed that the solving of these organizational problems must not be
postponed any longer.
7026
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UDC 911.2 :592.7 (47)
POSSIBLE CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENT AND ITS PROTECTION IN SPHERE OF ACTIVITY OF
DIVERTING PART OF TEIE STREAMELOW ON EUROPEAN TERRITORY OF USSR
" Moscow VESTNIK MOSKOVSKOGO UNIVERSITETA, SERIYA 5: GEOGRAFIYA in Russian
No 2, Mar-Apr 81 pp 23-29
[Article by R. Z. Gareyshin, T. V. Zvonkova, Yu. S. Kozhukhov, V. P. Chizhova
and L. G. Shvidchenko]
[Text] The interzonal diversion of part of the northern river flow into the
southern regions of the European territory of the USSR (ETU) is the largest
project of regional transformation of the environment. The first phase of this
uni.que project stipulates the supply of about 20 km3 of water per year.
The urgency of diverting part of the streamflow to the southern ETU is determined
- first of all by national economic importance, the need for further development
, of industrial centers, expansion of the areas of irrigated lands in the near
future to 5 million ha, and improvement in the water supply o.f many cities.
The results of water-balance calculations for the river basins that were done
by the planning organizations indicate that in the near�future, even with the
minimum development plans for irrigated farming, the negative stream flow balance
will encompass many lowland rivers in the south of the country. As compared to
the middle region (West Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia), diversion of part
- of the streamflow.to the ETU is in a more advantageous position, since here there
is experience of operating interbasin diversion systems in recent decades. Their
total volume reaches almost 14 kcn3 per year [2]. The use of the available hydro-
systems of the Volga-Kama cascade and the Volga-Baltic water route for diversion
of part of the northern waters will considerably reduce the capital investments
for implemenration of the project and the related undesirable changes in nature.
But, despite the technical conditions for diverting part of the northern waters
to the southern ETU that are favorable on the whole, one should expect the develop-
ment of certain negative natural processes. According to preliminary data,
' the areas with direct and indirect undesirable changes will amount to tens of
thousands of square kilometers. One should first of all note such unfavorable
natural processes as swamping and secondary salinization that result in degradation
of individual components in the natural complexes, their transformation, and often
complete replacement with other less productive complexes, A:: especially impor-
_ tant element in the problem of diverting part of the streamflow is therefore
the development of scientifically substantiated forecasts for its effect on natural
complexes and trends for the chief environmental protection measures.
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The multiple.-plan nature of the streamflow diversion problem determines the need
to use a set of intersystem meth:,ds of research. The East European plain region
must be viewed as a single natural systtem that is significantly urbanized and
already partially transformed by the infierbasin redistribution of streamflow
and hydraulic engineering structiires. Analysis of possible changes in the environment during diversion of part of th2
, streamflow of the northern rivers to the southern regions was done in three
stages. At the first, retrospective stage; the hydroclimate and geological-
geomorphological factors were analyzed in t11e development.of the ETU environment
in order to define the stable trends in its past evolution (long-term trends
within the Holocene and medium-term in the past 50 years). At the second stage,
an estimate was made of the modern trends of environmental evolution, especially
the manifestation of extreme natural processes that could cause deviations from
- the normal, as well as natural processes of engineering value that could be ac-
~ tivated after implementation of the project. At the third, strictly forecasting
stage, the detecte3 trends in the evolution of the environment were extrapolated
for 25-30 years ahead. Analog plans are used here.
This article concentrates attention on the southern ETU regions. It does not
examine special questions concerning the problems of shipping and the hydro-
biology of the northern seas, �
The combination of relatively distinct and stable for the predictable period,
determined and elemental natural processes made it possible *_o separate local
sections on the ETU with unfavorable manifestation of natural processes of
engineering, ecological and environmental protection importance. The territories
where the trends of development of the natural processes coincide with hydraulic
engineering processes that are analogous to them are especially unfavorable.
These sections are, in particular, the Vozhe-Kubenskiy depression and the Sukhona
River headwater where active current descent of the territory is accompanied
by intensive swamping. After diversion of part of the streamflow, intensification
of this process should be expected. .
In the historical past (Pleistocene), the natural cyclicity, the maximum natural
- contrasts, and changes under the influence of hydroclimate factors were peculiar
primarily to the water and hydramorphic landscapes of the ETU middle zone. These
same landscapes will be changed to the greatest degree under the influence of
anthropogenic factors.
In the last decade, the southern slope of the East European plain has been
distinguished by a considerable fluctuation in precipitation and temperatures
with a certain directivity towards an increase in the shortage of precipitation
and rise in the average annual temperatures. This trend will apparently dominate
to the end of this century. All of this determines the importance of diverting
part of the streamflow not only as a major.national economic, but also environ-
mental protection measure.
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One can isolate four predicted natural-hydraulic engineering regions according
to the degree and nature of change in the environment and natural ;omplexes on
the route of the first phase of streamflow diversion: region of removal of part
of the streamflow, water accumulation and regulation of streamflow; transit;
run-off and re3istribution. Within this region, territories are isolated with
different reactions of the natural complexes to additional moisture, with a change
in the natural complexes, their transformation, and local changes in the natural
components and processes.
- The northern, excessively wet slope of the East European plain within the limits
of the forest, forest-tundra and tundxa zones belongs to the region for removal
of part of the streamflow. The most characteristic environmental trends of this
region are the intensifying continental nature of the climate and a certain
reduction in the natural moisture content. Withdrawal of part of the streamflow
- totalling about 20 km3 of water from Lakes Onega, Vozhe and Lacha, the Sukhona
and Pechora Rivers will promote the deepeni,ng of these processes. The territories
that adjoin the donor river valleys will suffer more than others. The natural
complexes of these regions will be transformed towards an intensification of
the tundra and forest-tundra elements in the landscape structure.
Changes in natur.e in the region of water accumulati-on and streamflow regulation
that encompasses the valley of the Sukhona River, the Volga-Baltic water route,
and the Pechora headwaters will be comparatively small and local. They will
be manifested primarily in the rise of the grouni: water level and the swamping
of forests in and around the valleys in the upper reaches of the Pechora, in
the region of construction of the regulating hydrosystems. Here the greatest
area (up to several tens of thousands of hectares) of flooded and partially
submerged lands is expected. A considerable percentage of them are agricultural
land assets and high-quality forests. When the floodplains and parts of the
, low platforms of the Sukhona River are flooded, the willow-grassy, gras3y-green
birch-aspen, coniferous-small-leaved swamp grass forests will be wiped out
while the spruce green and birch-spruce sedge-mossy and pine long-bearing forests
of the high platforms will change with an increase in the percentage of swamped
_ types of forests and swamp complexes. The reconstruction of the natural complexes
in these regions will be especially intensive in the first 10-15 years.
- The transit region encompasses the Volga-Baltic canal, the Rybinsk reservoir,
the Volga and Kama Rivers. There should not be any significant changes in the
environment of this sector. An increase in the volumes and frequen.cy of passages
through the Volga and Kama reservoir.s will somewhat activate the earth creep
processes, especially on the right bank of the Volga River from Kazan' to Volgo-
grad. According to the data of Ye. G. Kichugin, the stability of the slopes
in the regien of U1'yanovsk during decr.eases in the reservoir level is reduced
by 20%, [3]. During variable regimes of the reservoir level, abrasion is also
activated. For the Kama and Volga reservQirs, the total extent of the abrasive
shores is currently roughly 4,000 km. After the Cheboksary and Nizhne-Rama
reservoirs are put into operation and part of the streamflow is diverted, it
will increase even more. In the transit region, positive hydrological and hydro-
, biological changes will dominate. An increase in the water flowage in the reser-
voirs, and its more frequent renewal will have a f.avorable effect on the processes
of self-purification of the rivers, attentuation of eut*-ophication of the reser-
voirs, and improvement i.n the habitat conditions for water fowl and water supply
for the cities.
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The territory of the region for the streamflow and redistribution of part of the
streamflow is the most dangerous for natural conditions and hydraulic engineering
functions in relation to the dimensions of the expected changes. This is linked
nat only to the complexity of the natural conditions of the arid zones, but
also with the possibTe disruption of the operating pattern of the irrigation
systems. Here one can expect changes not only of a local but also of a regional
order.
The almost universal irrigation and flooding of this territory significantly
transforms its hydrothermal and geochemical conditions. Because of the increased
evaporation from the surrounding territories, the air humidity can probably be
increased by 10-20% and the air temperature in the vegetation period decreased
by 1-20. Wetting of the soils and intensified sod processes will promote a
decrease in the probability of dust storms and attenuation of the erosion processes.
Considerable changes are expected in the west Caspian region (Sarpinskiy and
= Terskiy-Kumskiy physical-geographical provinces), Prikuban'ye and lower pon.
Local changes will be associated with the zones of influence of the new main
canals, Volga-Ural, Chograyskiy, Dagestan, Rostov-Krasnodar and North Stavropol'.
Processes of secondary salinization represent the greatest danger here.
Changes in the Volga-Akhtubinsk floodplain and the Volga delta will primarily
be positive. Additional wetting of this territory will permit partial restoration
of the lost natural potential of the floodplain and the lower reaches of the
river. It will increase the yield of the meadows and improve the fish spawning
conditions in the delta, as well as the conditions for water supply to Astrakhan.
But taking into consideration that over 90% of the diverted water will be collected
for irrigation even before the Volga-Akhtubinsk floodplain, one cannot count
on complete restoration of the hydromorphic complexes of the floodplain. The
areas of land to be irrigated here will increase at the same time.
The first phase of diverting part of the streamflow does not provide for complete
resolution of the problems of the Caspian and Azov Seas. The national economic
importancz of these reservoirs is not less than the introduction of new areas
of irrigated lar.d. Even today, therefore, there is a need for diverting 70-80 km3
of water per year from the beginning of the next century with regard for the
need of the Caspian Sea [1].
In addition to planned transformations of nature in tize sphere of influence
of the streamflow diversion, changes are also possible in the condi'.tions for
functioning of the industrial complexes, conditions of city designing and building,
and the structure of the territory's use. Changes in the conditions of city
designing and building will chiefly be expressed in.an improvement or deterioration
of the natural conditions for conducting certain construction work. Drastic
changes in construction conditions are possible on limited areas near the water
bodies.
Analysis of the possible rise in cost of major construction in the ETU after streanr
flow diversion shows that in the western, extreme northern, part of the southwestern
and southern physical-geographical provinces, changes in the cost of city designing
and building are not foreseen. Here the effect of the diversion either will not
be felt at all, or its negative and positive factors will be mutually exclusive.
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- In the majority of provinces of the Cis-Ural region, Volga region, IRcraine,
partially in ttle North Caucasus, the cost of city designing and building also
will not changE. tsoreover, it can drop in certain regions because of improved
water supply. In the southeast provinces, i.mprovement in the climate situation,
water supply conditions and landscaping will promote a decline in the cost of
city designing and building. On].y in the central, northern and northeastern
provinces is a deterioration in the natural conditions for construction expected
- because of the increased level of subsoil water, swamping and rising of ground
water. The greatest deterioration is expected in the southern section of the
Pechora province (~0 2-4%). However, the rise in cost for the region as a whole
is comparatively insignificant (to 1%). If one takes into consideration that
, the extant rise in cost of city designing and building in these provinces is from
6 to 20%, then the relative increase, as a rule, will not exceed 10%.
Thus, diversion of part of the flow of the northern rivers to the south will
elicit, on the one hand, a slight increase in the cost of city designing and
building because of the natural conditions in the northern, partially central
regions, and on the other hand, will somewhat reduce the cost in the southern
and southeastern regions. On the whole for the ETU, the risi,!-. in cost will remain
on rouglily the same level.
The routes for diversion of part of the streamflow of the northern waters will
pass through the regions that differ significantly both in structure of the
territory use, and in their degree of development. These regions will react
differently to the delivery of additional volumes of water. Analysis of the
spatial structure of territory use shows that on the whole, the effect of the
first phase of streamflow diversion on the intensity of development of the adjacent
_ lands will be weak. The lands of new irrigation will remain poorly developed,
although the rates of their development will be somewhat accelerated. This is
explained by the poor degree of preparation of the land of future irrigation
for reception of water.
In the strongly developed regions, the potential value of the territorial and
water resources is considerably higher than in rhe poorly developed. Therefore,
the watar that is diver.ted from the north can be used here much more efficiently.
One can expect a higher yield from the capital i.nvestments made to divert part
of the streamflow, and their rapid compensation from the use of the water not
only for irrigation, but also for production and household needs for the indus-
trial regions.
The system of environmental protection for the territory that is in-
cluded in the zone of influence of the streamflow diversion is formed of
three interrelated parts: protection of the environment as a whole; protec-
tion and restoration of the inteilsively employed part of the environment, natural
resources, and protection of especially preservable natural territories. Analysis
of the expected changes in the envirorunent and the modern network of preser-
vable natural territories shows that some of the preservable territories will
partially or completely fall int-o the zone of influence of the planned hydraulic
engineering and irrigation strLi uras after the streainflow diversion. On the
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southern slope of the East European plain, 4 preserves, 28 sanctuaries and 9
future national and natural parks belong to these objects. Depznding on the local
natural conditions and the strength of the effect from hydraulic engineering
structures, the changes in the natural complexes of the preservable territories
will be either positive or negative.
The majority of preservable territories will experience a favorable effect from
diversion of part of the streamflow. This is associated with the fact that a
considerable part of the preserves and sanctuaries on the diversion route have
been created to protect acquatic game. The positive effect will also be expressed
here in an improvement of the water exchange conditions and the processes of
water self-purification, and restoration of the hydromorphic complexes of the
southern sanctuaries. Diversion of part of the streamflow will have the greatest positive effect on
the natural complexes of the Astrakhan preserve. They are currently being
gradually degr ded mainly because of the intensified aridity and drop in the
_ Caspian Sea level. The effect of the decreased Caspian Sea level is presented
in the form of a chain uf cause-effect phenomena: regression of a shore line-
formation of sections of saline ground on areas exposed from under the sea-
reduction in the shoal zones--decrease in productivity of the feed lands--decrease in
numbers and species of water fowl. The territory of the Astrakhan preserve is
also overgrown with dense aquatic-swamp vegetation which impairs the fish spawning
conditions. Studies by colleagues of the preserve showed that the delta has
been especially actively overgrown with bur reeds, reeds and other aquatic com-
munities in the last 5-7 years [4]. This curtails the area of feed land and im-
- pairs the habitat conditions for water fowl. It reduces the reserves of fish,
in particular, the sturgeon.
Although diversion of part of the streamflow will increase the water content
in the lower water period of the delta, this problem will not be cAmpletely
resolved. The only possible escape from the situation for the Astrakhan and
other Caspian preserves is stabilization of the Caspian Sea level at the optimal
mark for the aquatic bioceiioses, 28.7 m. This would currently require about
15 km3 of water per year above the volumes necessary to compensate for the rise
in water consumption in the Caspian basin [1].
Protection of the natural complexes of the absolute sanctuaries excludes the
possibility of using normal measures of engineering and phytomelioration pro-
tection. In this case, a certain change can be recommended in the profile of
the scientific studies on the preserves, for example, broadening the program of
research to investigate the effect of hydromorphization processes on the struc-
ture of the natural complexes of the preservable territories. In the future,
when the volumes of northern river diversion double, one can expect an inten-
sified unfavorable effect not only on the environment as a whole, but also on
the natural complexes of the preserve territories. Consequently, more detailed
studies are required to determine: a) possible indirect and regional changes
in the environment; b) permissible limits for the change in the natural com-
plexes; c) means of restoring the disrupted bl.ocks of natural complexes and
protecting the especially preservable natural objects.
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Under these conditions, it becomes especially valuable to set up eapanded
stationary observations of the dynamics of natural complexes and natural processes
in the preserves and sanctuaries after, or according to the example of "bio-
spheric preserves."
Despite the complexity of the problem of protecting natural complexes of the
preserves, foresight of the necessary environmental protection measures even
before technical implementation of the streamflow diversion project will permit
prevention of their many negative changes.
Damage to the environment on'the ETU can be reduced in principle:
1. By planning measures, for example, reduction in the network of canals and
their length by filling the shoaling rivers with water, decrease in the number
~ of reservoirs in the southern ETU, reduction in the areas of evaporation and
filtration by decreasing the'flooded areas, etc.
2. Control of the river regime for environmental protection purposes, for er.ample,
determination of the correlation between the volumes of water to be withdrawn
from the rivers, and its fluctuation in the basins in different years; preser-
vation of the flood water regi.me, especially on the sections with good natural
drainage and absence of backwater; preservation or improvement in the self-
purification capacity of the reservoirs and adjoining territories, including,
by artificially created rlushing regime.
3. Substitution of certain elements in the environment that have been damaged
by the streamflow diversion, for example, replacement of the natural composition
of flooded forests with more water-resistant species.
~ 4. Direct engineering and phytomelioration protection of natural and hydraulic
engineering objects that have been disturbed by the streamflow diversion, protec-
tion of shores from erosion, vertical drainage on salinized land, protection of
reservoirs from silting up and overgrowth, planting of forests, change in the
parameters and designs of hydraulic engineering structures, improvement in the
waterproofing, etc.
5. Use of compensation environmental protection measures, substitution of
flooded and partially submerged agricultural lands with appropriate lands in
other parts of the basins, change in the management profile of the kolkhozes and
sovkhozes; creation of artificial floodplains in the main canals to replace the
natural meadows when the flood regime of the rivers is reduced, and restoration
of the drowned river valleys in the south.
When the volumes of streamflow diversion are increased to 60 km3 per year and
more, additional studies are needed: on possible indirect changes in the environ-
ment outside of the sphere of direct influence of the canals and reservoirs,
resolution of the problem of protecting the environment on the southern slope
of the ETU as a whole, as well as means of restoring certain naturzl resources
and protecting the especially preservable natural objects.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Berezner, A. S. "Outlook for Development of Water Consucnption in Caspian
Sea Basin," VODNYYE RESURSY, No 1, 1979.
2. Vendrov, S. L. "Problemy preobrazovaniya rechnykh sistem SSSR" [Problems
of Transforming the USSR River System], Leningra:i, 1979.
3. Kachugin, Ye. G. "Geologicheskoye i2ucheniye dinamiki beregov vodokhranilishch"
[Geological Study of Dynamics of Reservoir Shores], Moscow, 1975.
4. Rusakov, G. V.; Yegorov, I. Ye.; and Zubrilkin, Ye. I. "Metodicheskiye
reknmendatsii po opredeleniyu zarastayemosti avandel'ty r. Volgi i obrabotke
materialov s"yemki" [Method Recommend.ations to Determine Overgrowth of
Antedelta of Volga River and Processing of Survey Materials], Astrakhan',
1980.
~ COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo Moskovskogo universiteta. "Vestnik Moskovskogo
universiteta", 1981
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UDe 639,2,1+628.17+626.88
`u NEED FOR REDISTRIBUTION/DIVERSION OF WATER BETWEEN VOLGA AND URAL RIVERS DISCUSSED
Moscow VODNYYE RESURSY in Russian No 2, 1981 pp 72-76
[Article by A. P. Musatov, Institute of Water problems, USSR Academy of Sciences,
and Yu. N. Podushko, All-Union State Planning, Surveying and Scientific Research
Institute of Water Management Construction]
[Text] The great significance of the Urals-Caspian fisheries region [2, 5]
is determined by the high catches of sturgeon,* 90-95 percent of which is starred
sturgeon.
The spawning run of sturgeon to the Ural River increased sharply during the past
two decades, while an increase of catches in the river began after regu.lation
of the Volga flow near Volgograd and construction of the Iriklinskoye Reservoir,
i.e., even during fishing for sturgeon in the sea. By the mid-1970s, the fishing
industry region under consideration supplied almost one-third of the world catch
of sturgeon. In 1976 the specific catch of starred sturgeon in the Ura1 River
(on 1 km3 of its flow) comprised 2,000 tons, while that in the Volga was one-
half as much.
A, total of 70 sturgeon spawning grounds with a total area of approximately
1,700 hectares has been counted in the Ural River from Gur'yev to Ural'sk, of
which more than 900 hectares are channel sections that are permanently under
water, while the remaining spawning grounds are flooded only during the flood
season. Thus, the potential area of tlie spawning grounds in the Ural River is
almost four times higher than that on the remaining free section of the Vo1ga
River below Volgograd (approximately 480'hectares).
Fluctuations of the water content of the Ural River determine the conditions of
the run of sturgeon into the river and their passage to the spawning grounds.
The length of the spawning section, the conditions of the spawning grounds, the
periods of spawning, the survivability of the young and the scales of predation
by predators and also the duration of migration of the young depend on fluctuations
of the water content of the river. The characteristic feature of the river is
high variability of its flow (fxom 2.6 to 24.6 km3/ year at the Kushum gauge),
due to which the spawning grounds are flooded extremely irregularly in spring.
It is important to note that adequate inundation of these spawning grounds is
observed at flow exceeding 5 km3/year.
*Prior to 1965, sturgeon were caught both in the river and in the sea, but later
only in the Ural River.
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The sturgeon spawnimg grounds most valuable in quality of bottom deposits are
located above the village of Kalmykovo (1,000 hectares). However, they are now
being rather weakly developed and mainly by sparse winter forms of beluga and
sCurgeon. They are riot easily accessible to starred sturgeon (especialiy during
dry years) due to the early onset of spawning temperatures in the river. Or-
ganization of free passage (without early catch) of producers at the beginning
of the spawning run is required to increase the effectiveness of developing these
sturgeon spawning grounds, which will significantly i.mprove the conditions of
natural reproduction in the river. The norm of passage of the starred sturgeon
into the river should apparently be scientifically based as a function of the
water content of individual years.
The main mass of sturgeon spawns in the section of river below the village of
Chapayevo where the area of the spawning grounds amounts to 1,000 hectares.
During dry years, judging by the fact that bream and Caspian roach in the Ural
delta feed on sturgeon eggs [3], spawning occurs even in the delta itself.
The spawning grounds below the village of Kulagino (with an area of 400 hectares)
play a less important role in reproduction of the sturgeon than those located
farther upstream. The survivability of the young migrating from these grounds,
being of small size, is rather low. Accordingly [4], the main mass of sturgeon
- young migrates from the Ural river in the form of larvae during dry years,
especially during an early spring. It should be noted that feeding on the young
by predators is activated during years when the delta is not filled (and these
years have predominated during the past few decades).
The yield of sturgeon apparently correlates with the yield of river and semi-
_ transient fish, for which years with flow of the Ural exceeding 9 km3 are favorable.
The areas of spawning grounds of the Ural River decrease almost by a factor of
8 and yield decreases by a factor of 3-10 during dry years. All this indicates
that a very important role belongs to the water content of the river in supporting
- the reproduction of valuable fish species.
The flow of the Ural River has no less effect on creation of favorable conditions
for fattening of sturgeon and semitransient fish, adding fresh water to the
adjacen*_ pre-estuary zone of the sea. It should be noted that the Ural River
has no buffer estuary reservoir and the few and small young of stuxgeon and of
small fishes immediately enters the salinized waters of the sea during dry years
due to the sharp decrease of zones with salinity of 0-5 percent. During some
years (for example, 1967), the equal-salinity lines of 10-12 percent directly
approached the mouth of the river in the fall. The direction of the equal-salinity
lines in the pre-estuary space indicates that practically the entire flow of the
Ural River goes to the southwest during dry years; the areas of freshening in
the eastern part of the sea area increase as the flow increases. The effect
of the Ural River on the saline conditions of the pre-estuary region is felt
most strongly with flow exceeding 10 km3/s. However, it is quite probable that
the extent of river flow in freshening the eastern part of the sea will increase
in the future with regard to the proposed reduction of the level of the Caspian
Sea and weakening of the water exchange between, its western and eastern parts.
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The highest and minimum productivity of the eastern part of the Northern Caspian
Sea is observed accordingly when the wet and dry years on the Vo1ga and Ural
Rivers coincide.
In years when the flow of the Volga decreases, suitable conditions for life nf
hydrobionts in this section of the sea are created due only to the flow of the
Ural. Thus, an increase of the Ural during low-water years couid significantly
stabilize the conditions for reproduction of valuable species of fish in the
river itself and of their fattening in the sea.
The important role of the Ural River in formation of fish production of the
Caspial Sea, on the one hand, and the sharp fluctuations of its water content
inherent to the river, on the other hand, have long led water and fish management
specialists to the idea of possible regulation if its flow [1].
Let us consider this problem in somewhat more detail. The extreme variability
of the annual flow of the Ural River (the scope of fluctuations of 1:9) predeter-
mines the instability not only of the water, but of terrestrial ecosystems as
well (with the delta and floodplain of the river in mind). An increase of non-
returnable water consumption in the Ural basin, still further reducing the flow
of the river into the sea, as already i,ndicated, has an unfavorable effect on
reproduction of semitransient and sturgeon fish.
The Volga and Ural interfluve is a promising region for development of grain
farming and highly productive animal husbandry. If one assumes that nonreturnable
water consumption in the Ural basin will increase with development of this region,
then the annual streamflow into the sea may amount to 5.3 km3 during years with
50 percent provision, while it may decrease to 2.1 km3 during years of 75 percent
provision. We note in this case that the annual streamflow of the Ural River
- was not once below 3 lan3 and was below 5 km3 in only six cases during ?�he period
from 1936 to 1966. An annual streamflow less than 5 km3 can be ok,served for 17
years with agricultural development of the region and during 11 of these years
it will be even below 3 km3. This low-water period can be repeated every 2-3 years.
The crop of sturgeon young during dry years, as already indicated, is decreasing.
The river delta is essentially not inundated with screamflow less than 5 km3
and is not used by semitransient fish; the conditions for wintering over of
sturgeon in the river (on the section from Gur'yev to Ural'sk) are deteriorating
with flow rates less than 100 m3/s during December-February.
The Iriklinskoye Reservoir located above Orsk has a major effect on tne regime
of the Ural River. In redistribution o� streamflow during spring flooding,
1.7 km3 of water are used to fill the reservoir, which in dry yeaxs has a negative
effect on the reproduction of sturgeon and semitransient fish. However, an
increase of flow rates 1.5-2-fold during the winter season (from November through
March) due to releases from the reservoir is favorable for the hydrobionts
inhabiting the river in winter.
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If one proceeds from a possible increase of water consumption in the upper reaches
of the Ural River, one must state that winter releases from the reservoir may
support only the everyday flow rates of the river, which occur prior to t1ae
Iriklinskoye reservoir being put into operation. � 'The authors feel that- maintaining the water content of the Ura-1�- R:Sr'6!r =W-f - optimum
values is pc,ssible only if water from the Volga is supplied to i't`. The technical
and economic justification for construction of the Volga-Ural canal to flood the
Volga-Ural interfluve and to improve the water conditions of the Ural River
has aow..been worked out.
The length of the canal is 425 km; it is planned to take in water from the
Volgograd Reservoir (the Yeruslanskiy inlet or the open section near the village
of Levchunovka), and to supply water to the Urar River in the region of Ural'sk.
The first unit of water subsidies provides for an increase of winter flow rates
up to 100 m3/s in the Ural (from November through March) and a favorable oxygen
regime in wintering-over holes is guaranteed. The valume of flow supplied through
the canal will amount to 1.3 km3 a year, of which mor.e than 1 km3 will fall into
the sea. However, fishing industry requirements for a high water and annual
streamflow of 75 percent streamflow privision (3.1 and 5.7 km3, respectively)
will be only partially satisfied upon construction of the first phase of the
canal.
Nor will fishing industry requirements for 75 percent streamflow provision be
ful,ly satisfied upon construction of the second phase of the canal: the volume
of high waters will amount to 2.8 km3 while the annual streamflow will amount to
5.3 km3. Add3tionally 1.3 and 1.1 km3 of water, for which creation of an ad-
ditional 1 km of regulating capacity is required, will be delivered via the
canal into the Ural River in winter and spring respectively. The requirements
of the fishing industry will be almost completely satisfied during years of
50 percent streamflow provision.
It should be noted that flooding the Ural River with part of the Volga flow can
solve the problem of maintaining tre given water quality in winter only on the
section of river below the village of Kushum. MaintenancP of the necessary water
quality on the greater part of the river during winter (the 800-kilometer section
from the Kushum gauge to the Iriklinskoye reservoir and above it, where the
main water intake is accomplished and waste waters from industrial centers are dis-
charged) only if the useful volume of the reservoirs in the upper flow of the
river is increased by 0.5-1.0 km3 with compensation of the accumulated spring
streamflow with a corresponding increase of the volumes of diversion o.f the Volga
water through the Volga-Ural canal. This water should also be supplied to the
lower reaches of the river i.n spring to provide the optimum conditions for fish
reproduction.
The existing planned developments of the Volga-Ural canal are based on the need
to maintain 75 and 50 percent streamflow provision in the Ural with volumes of
- 5.7 and 8.4 km3, respectively. However, the annual flow of the Ural River should
be increased to 7 and 10 km3 during years of 75 and 50 percent provision, res-
pectively, to optimize the regime of the eastern part of the Northern Caspian
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(especially with regard to the proposed decrease of the level of the sea) and
creation of favorable conditions for reproduction of sturgeon. This requires
ar_ increase in the volumes of diverted streamflow mainly during the high-water
season for which the regulating capacity of the reservoir must be increased
_ by 1.5-1.7 km3 on the route of the Volga-Ural Canal.
The use of Lake Chelkar for these purposes, located on the left bank of the
Ural River, is very promising. Its maxi.mum depth is 12 meters, the area at the
average annual water's edge is 190 km2, 225 kmZ along the shore line and 205 km2
at the water's edge in the wet year of 1967. The lake is fed by two rivers--
the Bol'shaya and Malaya Ankata, the flow of which amounts to an average of
78 million m3/year. The water-intake area of the lake,3equal to 80 km2, provides
an additional average annual streamflow of 30 million m. Only the Solyanka
River flows out of the lake and only during those periods when the level of the
lake does not drop below the 18.7 absolute meter mark; at lower levels the lake
is without outflow. The level of the lake has now decreased more than 2 meters
(compared to 1957), as a result of which its area and volume were reduced sharply
(volume from 2 to 1.5 km3), while mineralization of the water reached 3-4 percent.
The amplitude of natural fluctuations of the water level in the lake amounts
to 7 meters. The volume of water varies by 1.4 km3 in this case. The natiiral
regulating capacity of the lake may amount to approximately 1.5 km3. The water
can enter the lake directly through the Volga-Ural canal and the old bed of the
~ Solyanka River can be used to supply water into the Ural River.
As shown by preliminary calculations, a levee 5 meters high should be constructed
along the banks to increase the capacity of Lake Chelkar by 1 km3 (which makes
it possible to do away with the flooding reservoir on the right bank of the
~ Ural River). In this case the total regulating capacity will amount to approximately-
2.5 km3, as a result of which the annual flow of the Ural of 75 and 50 percent
provision will be increased to 7 and 9.8-10 km3, respectively. This guarantees
optimum conditions of reproduction and fattening of sturgeon and semitransient
fish in the eastern part of the Northern Caspian.
It should be emphasized that to maintain favorable conditions for habitation of
commercial fish in the eastern part of the northern Caspian prior to the supplying
of part of the Volga flow into the Ural River (especially with regard to the
possible lowering in the level of the sea and increase in water consumption in
the river basin) it is necessary to intensify delivery of Volga waters into the
eastern part of the Northern Caspian with the help of a water divider in the
Volga Delta and active exploitation of it fish passage channels.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. "Biologicheskaya produktivnost' Kaspiyskogo morya" [The Biological Productivity
of the Caspian Sea], Moscow, Nauka, 1974.
2. Peseridi, N. Ye., "The Effect of Fishing on the Sturgeon '_',eserves of the
Ural River," Report Topics of the Annual Meeting of TsNIORKh, Astrakhan',
1972.
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3. Stygar, V. M. and N. Ye. Peseridi, "The Feeding of Caspian Roach and Bream
in the Ural River Delta," Report Topics of the Annual Report Session of
- TsNIORKh on the Results of Work During the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1971-1975),
Gur'yev, 1976.
4. Tarabrin, A. G., I. A. Voynova and N. Ye. Peseridi, "The Dynainic:s of Young
Sturgeon Migration in the Lower Reaches of the Ural River," Report Topics
of the Annual Report Meeting of TsNIORKh From the Results of Work During
the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1971-1975), Gur'yev, 1966.
5. Yablonskaya, Ye. A. and A. I. Zaytsev, "The Modern State and Problems of
increasing the Biological Productivity of the Caspian Sea," VODNYYE RESURSY,
No 1, 1979.
COPYRIGHT: Izdatel'stvo "Nauka", "Vodnyye resursy", 1981
6521
CSO: 1824/199
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GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMS
During the course of this project attempts were made to standardize translations of
certain terms. Listed below as a further aid to the reader is a list of selected,
pertinent Russian terms, along with their standardized translations. While the
usage herein does not totally conform to this list, attempts have been made, and
will continue to be made, to acrieve the maximum possible degree of conformity.
BOAFiOCTb water content (rather than flow rate)
BO,qHbP Ob"bEKT water body (rather than water source)
BO,q01l0TPE6J1EHVIE water consumption
3A60J1Ay06Af-ME swamping, flooding, becoming boggy
or marshy
V13bIMAEMbIN wi thdrawn
03UATVtE withdrawal (rather than diversion)
OCHOBHbIE HAt1PABJ1Eh-NW Basic Airections
OTTOK outflow
OTbEM removal
(lEPE6PAC61BAENbIM diverted (rather than redistributed
or transferred)
(lEPE6POCKA diversion or diverting (rather than
redistribute or transfer)
nVITAHVIE feeding (rather than discharge)
f10,qABAENbN`~ . supplied
f10,qA4A supplying or supply (rather than
diversion or diverting)
no,qnoP head, backwater, affluent (of a river)
nO,QTOfIlIEHVtE 1) rise in ground water level,
saturating with ground water;
2) partial flooding, partial submerging
(IOVIMA (IIOI%iMEHHAA TEPPACA) flood plain
f10flYCK discharge or release
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GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMS (cont.)
f10CTYf1J1EHVIE
delivery (rather than diversion or
diverting)
PACXO,q discharge, rate of flow, flow rate
C6POC runoff (in this context)
CPA60TKA decrease in storage, drawdown, draw off
CTOIC flow or streamfYow (rather than runoff--
may be translated as runoff in some
contexts, however as used here meaning
is flow or stres*aflow)
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RUSSIAN ACRONYMS
Listed below are selected Russian zcronyrns which will prave useful to those wishing
to pursue the
study of Soviet river diversion projects.
NQKB
ACTPBXaHCHOB U,BHTPaJ16HOB FSoHCrpyKtopCKOe 6bpo
BPH
EInaMHOCrb PaapWsa HannHnspoe
BXH
BO,QOX03ANCTBEHHbIN KoMnAeKC .
('T10
fH,qpoMeTeoponorHtiecKas 06cepeaTOpHA
- EBXCC
EANHc3fi BOAOX03A11CT88FlH8f1 CNCT6Ma CTp8H61
ETC
EeponeHCKaa TeppHTOpHS CTpaHbi
KHB
K03#HL42HT HCf10116308aHNfl BO,[{bl
f{nQ
H03#N4N8HT I-IOl183H0('O ,O,Bl1CTBN9
Hn8
HaNMBFIl1oA I-IOl1B83A B118f"OBMKOCTb
HFLV
HOPM811b8bIN flOAfiOPHbIN yPOBBHb
- OBXC
06B,qNHHBHBA BOAOX03fiNCTBBHHBA CHCT6Ma
OB
OfIP@CHBHHB BOgI
00
06(]BTH6IN OCMOC
Oy Of1PECHNTBl16H8f1 YCTBHOBHa
f18Y flepe,qeHMHaR Bo,qonqqeMHaFi YcTaHOaca
- FM Fl(78A@l1bH0-AOIIyCTNMBA HOH48H.TPa4Nf1
MB npe,qenbHaR floneeas BnaroeMttocTb
Pfi PayST HacKa,qa
CBM CTOyrbie Bo,qbi MNBOTH013O,[448CHNX HoMnneKCOe
Cf1A8 CNHTBTN4BCHN@ I-I0BEPXH0CTHO-AHTNBHb18 B8qBCTBa
Cm C110N nOCTOflfIHHOH ,D,NCTNl111fId4NA IHOMEHC8l.4N0HHbIN C110N/
C(Tl CrpyKTypa fbyeeHHOro rloKpoea
_ END
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