Dried up Aral Sea bed, Central AsiaThe
drying up of the Aral Sea, which was once the world’s
fourth-largest freshwater body, was a major ecological disaster.
Extensive cotton growing in Central Asia over several decades
required irrigation with the waters of the rivers Amu Darya and Syr
Darya which flowed into the Aral Sea, and between 1962 and 1992,
the area of the sea halved from 67,388km2 to
33,300km2, with very serious consequences for the health
and livelihoods of millions of people. The fishing industry
collapsed, dust from the dried-up sea bed containing pesticides and
salt caused respiratory diseases and cancer, and life expectancy
fell.
Mott MacDonald has implemented the Aral Sea Regional Water
Management (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan)
which set out to advance the rational use of water resources in the
Aral Sea Basin through enhancing the management regime which has
developed in the post-Soviet period. Within the project, we
developed the capacity of the partner river basin organisations to
co-ordinate and integrate water resources management functions
through their basins, providing training, equipment and tools to
assist their management functions.
Through the establishment of pilot arrangements in three
transboundary sub-catchments, we identified means of improving
collaborative water resources management in the Aral Sea Basin,
including conjunctive surface/groundwater usage. Studies included
legal and social aspects together with policy development and
technical aspects of water management. Much of the work was
undertaken by national specialists under our technical
guidance.
Kzylorda Weir, KazakhstanApart from giving
guidance on the institutional aspects of water management in the
Aral Sea Basin, we have also undertaken the detailed design of the
rehabilitation works for the weirs at Kzylorda and Kazalinsk as
well as the supervision of procurement and construction of the
Northern Aral Sea dyke, the Aitek and Aklak weir and various flood
protection works along the Syr Darya River. These works will allow
better water management and control of the Syr Darya flows, which
in turn will lead to the restoration of intermediate levels in the
Northern Aral Sea and to improved agriculture and fisheries
production in the river basin.
