The Aral Sea Crisis

Once the world's fourth largest body of inland water, the Aral has now shrunk to just 15% of its former volume. Its salinity has risen by almost 600% and all native fish are gone from its waters. Over 40,000 km2 of the former sea bed is now exposed - an area equivalent in size to six million football (soccer) pitches. Trawlers lie stranded and commercial fishing activities have long since ground to a halt.

Before the expansion of Uzbekistan's cotton production, the Aral Sea was home to 24 native species of fish. Its waters encompassed over 1100 islands forming countless lagoons and shallow straits, and on the open seas, fleets of trawlers landed 40,000 tonnes of fish every year. But the Aral's receding shoreline and rising salinity have had a devastating impact on the ecosystems it used to support.

While the damage to the Aral Sea's ecosystems began in the Soviet era, the situation has deteriorated substantially under the Karimov administration. Indeed, between 1990 and 2000 the sea's total volume decreased by almost 50%.

The decline of the Aral Sea is closely linked to Uzbekistan's cotton irrigation systems which draw water from the region's two major rivers: the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. Together these giant waterways once carried more water than the Nile. But because of Uzbekistan's exhaustive demand for irrigation, the volume of water now reaching the Aral Sea has declined substantially. Indeed, at certain times of year the Amu Darya river runs dry long before it reaches the Aral Sea. According to recent data from the World Bank, Uzbekistan's irrigated cotton fields currently consume an average 14,000 m³ of water per hectare every year. With 1.47 million hectares under cotton this would equate to over 20 km³ of water annually.

The water demand created by Uzbekistan's irrigated cotton fields is exacerbated by the country's decrepit infrastructure. A recent report suggested that irrigation and drainage infrastructure is beginning to fall apart; canals are silted up or damaged, gates are broken or non-existent, and pumps are held together by improvised repairs and parts cannibalised from other machinery. Estimates now suggest that up to 60% of water diverted from the rivers fails to reach the fields.

The environmental consequences of Uzbekistan's water crisis are apparent over a space of approximately 400,000 km². Within this vast area, falling downstream water availability and increased salinity have led to the shrinkage of wetlands and lakes by up to 85%. These valuable ecosystems represent a prime habitat for a variety of wildfowl, and their loss is resulting in the widespread disappearance of native flora and fauna. As water availability declines, endemic plants are being replaced by invasive species more suited to the dry, saline environment.

Desiccation has also reduced and fragmented the Tugai forests. Russian experts estimate that in some parts of Uzbekistan as little as 15% to 20% of the Tugai forests remain. These unique riparian communities of poplar, willow, oleaster, and reeds once stretched along the Amu Darya covering an estimated a 100,000 hectares. Populated by 576 plant species, including 29 endemic to Central Asia, the Tugai provided habitat for amphibians, reptiles and birds, as well as reed cats, jackals, foxes, badgers, voles and wild boars. The Bukhara Deer (Cervus elaphus bactrianus), once found throughout the riverine ecosystems of Central Asia, now numbers just 300 animals.