The Aral Sea Encyclopedia - W,Y,Z pdf

W
Water balance of the Aral Sea – the water balance of the sea depends on the
correlation between the inflow of river and groundwaters, atmospheric preci-
pitation, and water losses to evaporation. The structure of the A.S. water
balance is a function of various levels of economic development. From 1930
through 1990, the available water resources in the basin were estimated at 115
cu. km annually. Natural water losses in 1930 were 36 cu. km, in 1960 – 13 cu.
km, and in 1990 – 7 cu. km. Water consumption in 1930 was 25 cu. km, in 1960 –
48 cu. km, and in 1990 – 103 cu. km. Water inflow into A.S. in the period from
1930 to 1960 was 54 cu. km, while in 1990 it was 5 cu. km. The reduced water
inflow was caused by flow regulation with reservoirs and diversion of excess
waters into deserts for irrigation; drainage waters did not return into rivers.
Since 1961, the water level has dropped by 23.6 m, which has led to disastrous
socioeconomic consequences for the population, numbering an estimated 3 mln
people, in the Circum-Aral area. The W B that was earlier nearly at equilibrium
is now characterized by deficit.
Water division – defining water consumption quotas on the basis of schemes for
integrated utilization and conservation of water resources and water manage-
ment balances. WD is carried out on various levels depending on the objectives
of water management activities: on the basin level, among the states of a water
basin, and on the subject level, between municipal authorities and major water
users. It takes into consideration the water use regime by months (for irrigation
and drainage systems, by decades) for the years of different water availability
for all kinds of water use. When changing water use conditions gives rise to
additional needs in water resources (appearance of new water users), the basin
or federation subject authorities on water resource management and conserva-
tion revise the existing water use quotas for issuance of a license to a new kind of
water use. Estimation of the future water management balances (WMB) enables
planning of WD. In conditions of WMB deficit, the water use conditio ns
specified in a license for water use is subject to more careful control, and
violation of the water use quotas involves punishment in accordance with the

water legislation. WD is used as a basis in preparation of various official
documents on joint water resource management by the Central Asian countries.
I.S. Zonn et al., The Aral Sea Encyclopedia, DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-85088-5_23,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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Water-related vision for the Aral Sea basin for the year 2025 – this document is
the first phase of the ‘‘Aral Initiative’’ declared by UNESCO. This document
states: ‘‘Vision is a practical picture of the future that we are eager to create.
Vision shapes our world.’’ At the UNESCO General Conference in October
1997, the governments of the Central Asian countries applied to the UNESCO
Secretariat for advice on how to act on the conditions of the Aral crisis.
In January 1998, UNESCO established within its framework the Scientific
Advisory Board on the Aral Sea (SABAS) (see). In September 1998, SABAS
elaborated a long-term vision plan. In November 1998, in Tashkent, the
UNESCO Director General at the Executive Council meeting initiated the
UNESCO Project on the Aral Sea Basin. In early 1999, national groups for
the preparation of regional visions were established in the Central Asian coun-
tries. After discussion of the draft document, the new visions were elaborated.
The figures on water resources included into the document were verified in
terms of their attainability. In late 1999, at the workshop ‘‘Water and Peace in
Central Asia’’ held by UNESCO in cooperation with International Fund for
saving the Aral Sea, the document was distributed among the water manage-
ment ministers of five countries, and in March 2000, the ‘‘Vision of the Aral Sea
Basin’’ was presented at the Second World Water Forum in the Hague.
This document is a contribution into the world advisory project’s ‘‘Long-
Term Vision for Water, Life, and Environment’’ of the World Council on Water
Resources.
Water Resources – a scientific journal established in 1972. It addresses issues o f
natural water quality, conditions of aqueous ecosystems, integrated manageme nt of
continental waters, and interactions of these with the n atural environment. Chief

editors of this journal were at different times A.N. Voznesensky (1972–1974),
V.N. Kunin (1975–1976), G.V. Voropaev (1976–1995), M .G. Khub laryan
(1995–2004), and V.I. Danilov-Daniljan (from 2004). It is published 6 times a
year by the Water Problems In stitute of the Russian Academy o f Sciences. Some
issues of the journal have published articles o n the problems of A.S. a nd its basin, i n
particular No. 1-1972, No. 2-1992.
Water resources management and agricultural production in the central Asian
Republics project (WARMAP) – the basic program of EU assistance to the
states in the A.S. basin, launched in 1995. This program was targeted to
rendering assistance to 5 former Soviet republics in development of policies,
strategies, and formations of programs for utilization, distribution, and man-
agement of water resources in the basin and facilitation on the regional level of
the establishment of institutional structures for interstate water utilization and
management. The first two phases of the project were completed by mid-1997.
The princi pal achievement of the program was development of geographical
information systems (GIS) based on the database of land and water resources in
the basin (WARMIS).
‘‘WARMAP-1,’’ financed by the European Union, includes 3 subprograms
initiated by the SIC ICWC (see).
238 W Water-related vision for the Aral Sea basin for the year 2025
The first phase of the project was implemented in 1995. It ensured coopera-
tion of many local and foreign organizations. In cooperation with more than
160 local experts, the WARMAP Project prepared a detailed report on some
problems, including legal and organizational, strategy of land and water use,
and agricultural production and consolidation of some institutes.
At present, the following results of the ad opted program are available:
creation of a regional information system of water and land resources in the
A.S. basin, including a database, interface, modules, and models; GIS with the
central base in ICWC Scientific-Information Center, five national bases, and
two BWMA; establishment of a system of observation and monitoring of water,

land productivity, and economic indices in typical areas in all countries of
Central Asia; analysis of dynamics of fertility and water use in irrigated farming
WUFMAS (Water Use and Farm Management Monitoring Survey).
Water resources, problems of the Aral and environment – a collection of works
showing the results of discussions of the mentioned subject in which more than
30 leading specialists from various water management departments of the
Uzbek Republic, the Uzbek Ministry of Higher and Vocational Secondary
Education, the Tashkent University named for Mirzo Ulugbek, the Uzbekistan
State Committee for Science and Technology, the Republican Ministry for
Emergency Situations, and the Civil Defense Institute took part. It was pub-
lished in Tashkent in 2000. It contains an accurate analysis of river flow
formation and of water resources of Central Asia, primarily providing their
quantitative and qualitative characteristics, problems of strategic and operative
management, the condition of the drinking water supply, the environmental
situation in the water basin, the Aral problem, and rational inter-basin water
redistribution. This collection is very interesting because it provides a wide
range of opinions of different scientists on addressing the burning issues of
water economy development and on saving the Aral Sea.
Water-salt balance of the Aral Sea basin – by estimates of some specialists, the
input and output balance is composed of the following:
– input: inflow of salts to the irrigated lands in the A.S. basin with irrigation
water – 117 mln tons; buildup in the zone of aeration – 10 ml n tons; inflow of
salts with the collector-drainage waters (CDW) directed to recycling – 7 mln
tons. Total: 134 mln tons;
– output: salt removal with CDW – 64 mln tons and beyond the irrigated zone –
72 mln tons. Total: 136 mln tons.
Of the above salt input, the share of the Amudarya basin is over 88 mln tons
and of the Syrdarya basin is approximately 46 mln tons.
Water world day – in 1992 du ring t he UN Conference on Environ ment and
Development (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), the international community initiated

World Water Day. The UN General Assembly declared observance of WWD
for March 22 of e ach year. This D ay was observe d for the first time in 1993.
Water world day W 239
Watershed basin of the Aral Sea, water basin of the Aral Sea – comprises a
considerable part of the territories of the Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan) and also the northern provinces of
Afghanistan (257 thou sq. km) and Iran (65 thou sq. km). The total area of
the basin within the Central Asian borders is 2.4 mln sq. km. This is a drainless
region comprising the large, independent basins of the Amudarya, Syrdarya,
Murghab, Tedjen, and other less significant rivers. WBAS is one of the most
ancient centers of civilization in the world, originating with irrigated farming
and the development of water resources thousands of years ago. In antiquity
(4th century B.C. to 2nd century A.D.), when irrigation development was
increasing, the irrigated areas in the lower reaches of the Amudarya,
Syrdarya, and Zarafshan exceeded the present-day area of irrigated lands.
The total irrigated area in the lower reaches of the Amudarya and Syrdarya
was 3.5– 3.8 mln ha, including the Amudarya lower reaches (1.3 mln ha) and
the Syrdarya lower reaches (2.2 to 2.5 mln ha). Thus, in antiquity, the irrigated
area in the lower reaches of the Amudarya and Syrdarya was four-fold greater
than at present; it should be remembered, however, that, in fact, smaller land
areas were irrigated than now. Although the main canals that time were very
long, the network of smaller irrigation canals was rather sparse, and with great
water consumption, no more than 10–15% of lands being in command zones
of irrigation systems were sown. In feudal times, irrigation in Central Asia was
developed further, in particular in the 9th – early 13th centuries when such
large feudal states as Samanides (9–10th centuries), Karakhanides (11–12)
and Khorezmshakhs (11 – early 13) were formed. The 12–14th centuries were
the period of the highest irrigation development in the lower reaches of the
Amudarya and Syrdarya. The total area of cultivated lands reached 2.4 mln
ha, out of which 1.4 mln ha were irrigated on a regular basis. In the Middle

Ages, especially in the 10–12th centuries, irrigation was practiced not only on
flatlands, but also in piedmont areas of Central Asia. For irrigation of waterless
steppes and semideserts in the piedmont areas, the engineering-type reservoirs with
a capacity up to 1.5 mln cu. m were built on large sais and rivers.
The joining of Central Asia to Russia in the second half of the 19th century
facilitated further development of irrigated farming and related sectors of the
economy. The tsar’s civil servants, seeking to yield as much cotton as possible,
actively pushed the extension of areas under cotton. For this purpose, they
needed information about water resources, likely regions of irrigation develop-
ment, soil conditions, etc. that might be a basis for design of large irrigation
systems. In this period, the first surveys were carried with a view to define areas
suitable for irrig ation on the Golodnaya Steppe and in the Ferghana, and
Zarafshan valleys in the Amudarya lower reaches; howeve r, despite all efforts
during the whole colonial period, only 80 thou ha of land was developed. True
large-scale development of land irrigation and reclamation in Central Asia
started only after the October revolution of 1917. Despite economic collapse
and Civil War, the Soviet government focused great attention on irrigation
development in Turkestan. On May 17, 1918, V.I. Lenin signed the Decree ‘‘On
240 W Watershed basin of the Aral Sea, water basin of the Aral Sea
the Allotment of 50 mln rbls. to Irrigation Development in Turkestan and on
Organization of these Works.’’ Based on the economic development mandates of
the 5-year plans, large irrigation canals and reservoirs and main headers with high
efficiency were built in the Central Asian republics. As a result, irrigated areas
increased nearly two-fold, from 1339 thou ha in 1913 to 2474 thou ha in 1960.
The resolution of the May Plenum of CPSU CC (1966) defined a new stage
of land irrigation development that was principally different from all past
ones. For the conditions of Central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan, it meant,
first of all, that better, more efficient irrigation was the most important
precondition for further increase of the yields of technical, fodder, and forage
crops as well as the extension of areas under irrigation for greater yields of raw

cotton. In 1966–1986, the construction of water management projects and
commissioning of Central Asia’s largest irrigation canals (such as Karakum,
Karshi, Amu-Bukhara, and others) was pursued aggressively. Their head-
water intake varied from 200 to 500 cu. m/s and more. Such l arge reservoirs
as Andijan, Charvak, Chardarya, Tuyamuyun, and Nurek were constructed
and put into operation (all in all there were 80 reservoirs with a total capacity
over 100 mln cu. m). This enabled regulation o f river flows in this region. In
1965–1988, as a r esult of wide-scale irrigation works in the Central Asian
republics and Kazakhstan, over 3 mln ha of new lands were developed and
water supply to a greater part of previously irrigated areas was improved. For
transportation of drainage and diversion waters from oases, main headers
were constructed. A part of this flow is discharged into the Syrdarya and
Amudarya for replenishment of their flows, and the other part is discharged to
drainless depressions in the Kyzylkums and Karakums. In 1988, a total of
9354 thou ha were developed in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The t otal
capacity of reservoirs exceeded 60 cu. km. The total length of the irrigation
inter-farm network was about 50 thou km, and the on-farm network was
about 270 thou km. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the newly inde-
pendent Central Asian countries, on their transition to market economies,
decided to revise their plans of agriculture development to r educe water
consumption, so they significantly cut irrigated areas.
Western (Aral) Sea – the deep-water section that remains after the drying of the
Large Aral Sea. It is located between the Ustyurt chink and the former
Vozrozhdenia (see), Lazareva (see) , Komsomolsky (see) Islands.
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought – following the adoption of
the Convention to Combat Desertification of June 17, 1994, the UN General
Assembly declared this day the World Day to Combat Desertification and
Drought. This Day was observed for the first time in 1995.
World Environment Day – Annually celebrated on June 5. On this day in 1972,
the UN Conference on the Human Environment was opened in Stockholm. In

order to draw attention of the world public to the problem of environmental
protection it recommended observance of this day as World Environment Day.
World Environment Day W 241
Y
Yuzhsibreka – conventional name of a project proposed in the 1950s by
A.A. Shulga, a specialist from SOPS of the USSR Academy of Sciences, to
design of a large waterway running from the east to the west and involving the
Caspian Sea and its basin. This canal would get water from the Ob upper
reaches, the Irtysh middle reaches, and other rivers that would be met on its
way. In general, water withdrawal from these rivers would be 100 cu. km a year
(nearly 5 times more than the entire combined flow of the Kura and Terek
rivers) into the Caspian Sea.
Already in the first stage of construction, Yu. would be turned into a network
of deep waterways quite suitable for navigation and linking Kuzbass with the
Urals, the North Caspian (via Emba), and the A.S. The second stage assumes
water intake from the Tom River (with a retaining dam near Kemerovo City) and
its transfer via the Severn, Unga, and Innyuz rivers to the Novosibirsk reservoir
and further on along the main Yu. route to the Circum-Caspian Lowland.
Downstream of the North-Caspian HPS, the Tom’ River waters would be
taken for irrigation, watering, landscaping, and creation of fishery lakes in the
trans-Ural part of the Northern circum-Caspian Lowland. In this way, about 5
mln ha of desert and semi-desert territories would be improved.
I.S. Zonn et al., The Aral Sea Encyclopedia, DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-85088-5_24,
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Z
Zhalanash Bay* – cuts into the Kokturnak Peninsula 7.5 km west of the Baishura
Cape. This bay is 3.6 km long. It has the steeply dropping shores (500–750 m from
the shore the depth is 5–6 m). In the past, fishery activities were practiced here.
Zhidely Bay (former Djidely)* – projects into the southern shore of the Shubartar-

auz Peninsula (see) between the Segizsai and Aiderly Capes. Moving to the north-
west of the Segizsai Cape, the shores of the bay become more and more flat, and cliff
heights gradually diminishe u ntil a strip of sandy beaches appears.
Zhingyldastubek Island* – located to the east of A.S. 15 km to the southeast of
Kuzzhenes Island. The island is low and sandy with flat shores and is sur-
rounded by reed thickets. The island is covered with sandy mounds on which
rare shrubs grow.
Zhiltyrbas Bay (former Iskekuk Yzyak)* – incises into the southern sea shore
for 24 km to the south between Erzhan Island (see) and the Uzynkair Cape. The
shores of the bay are low and shallow. The bay itself is shallow; its prevailing
depths do not exceed 3 m. The entrance into the bay is obstructed by two bars.
In 1967–1968, the bay dried out completely. In 1980, the coastline receded for
30 km, though in relation to the former A.S. water level of 53 m. In subsequent
years, the recession rates of the coastline were as follows: 1990 – 53.3 km, 1995 –
65 km, 2000 – 75 km. Later, the waters that usually went to the Amudarya delta
were used to fill Z.B., the water surface of which stretched from north to south
for 20–22 km and its lower part approached close to the KKS header. The water
salinity in the lake was 3.4–3. 5 g/l (2000).
The territory of Zh.B. abounds in cane thickets and floodplains, thus attract-
ing many water fowl and near-water birds. In the dried territory of Zh.B., several
artesian hot springs were constructed that give slightly saline (1.5–2.0 g/l) hot
water (38–40
8
C). Camps of shepherds grazing cattle and stocking cane for hay
concentrate around these wells. After drying, an irrigation-disposal lake was
formed in the bay.
I.S. Zonn et al., The Aral Sea Encyclopedia, DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-85088-5_25,
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