Water In Central Asia Research Articles

The six elements — managing water in Central Asia

Community water management conjures up images of a vibrant civil society whose citizens take full responsibility at the local level. Is this possible in the former Soviet Union?

International and Regional Responses to the Aral Crisis: An Overview of Efforts and Accomplishments

An authoritative U.S. analyst of Central Asian water management problems, and former advisor to the Uzbek government on water management issues, surveys the nature and effectiveness of international and regional programs to mitigate the Aral Sea crisis. After first reviewing the history and magnitude of the crisis, the author assesses international and regional assistance programs during the late Soviet period and subsequent initial years of independence for the Central Asian republics within the Aral Basin. A concluding section includes policy recommendations based on the author's extensive experience in the field and familiarity with many of the principal organizations involved. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F35, Q15, Q25. 2 figures, 1 table, 32 references.

PRINCIPAL TRENDS AND PROSPECTS OF THE USE OF WATER RESOURCES IN THE USSR

The increasing demand on water in the Soviet Union and the problem of assuring water quality require the construction of long-term water-management balances by drainage basins. These balances, based on predicted demand and water availability, would suggest the need for water-management projects within basins and interbasin transfers. Water needs would be evaluated both in terms of water requirements by categories of users and in terms of water quality. The most crucial regional problems involve the increasing shortage of water in Central Asia (with the prospect of interbasin transfer from Siberia) and in southern regions of the European USSR (with the problem of diverting water southward from the northern runoff slope). The Caspian Sea is expected to require a supplementary inflow of 80 to 100 cubic kilometers a year by the end of the century if the decline of its waterlevel is to be arrested. But southward diversion of northern waters is not expected to add more than 50 to 70 km3 at best, with a possible...

On the Influence of the Rate of Flow on the Fish Fauna of the Rivers of Central Asia

A NUMBER of scientists (Van dem Borne, Severtzov, Ellis, Hesse) have been studying the influence of the rate of flow on the distribution of fishes in rivers and have attempted to divide the rivers into groups according to the species of fish found in them. As regards fishes of Central Asiatic rivers with very high rates of flow, the latter must influence the qualitative as well as the quantitative composition of the communities, and the sharp transition from flowing to stagnant water in Central Asia gives a favourable opportunity of tracing such variations in the composition of the fish communities in the whole course of the river.