Planning for Drainage Development in the Aral Sea Basin

The Aral Sea basin is a closed drainage system encompassing about 690,000 km2. The basin is primarily within five countries of the former USSR (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) whose rivers flow to the Aral Sea. The Sea is the ultimate disposal site for all runoff and discharges within the basin. Because of large developments for irrigation, increased population, and industrial intensification, the Aral Sea has shrunk since 1960 from 68,000 km2, to about 37,000 km2. and its level has dropped by about 14 m. The Aral Sea salinity level has increased nearly three times, to that of sea water, and serious environmental damage has been caused by increased loadings of agricultural chemicals, municipal wastewater, and industrial effluents in the basin.