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The communities surrounding the Aral Sea basin rely on it’s promise of water and fish for their livelihoods. This is part of the reason that control over the water resource have been a point of contention among the countries who share access to it. The Aral Sea has been reduced by over half of its original size, due to environmental and irrigation factors (Hoogeveen, 2013). It’s reduction in size affected its salinity and the access individuals have to boost their economies through it’s resources, changing both the landscape and the lives around it. It’s taken the effort of many countries to control and monitor the use of the water in the basin, and steps have been made in effort to reconstitute the Aral Sea to its original glory over time.

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The dried seabed of the Aral Sea is one of the biggest sources of dust aerosols in the world. The saline material blown with the dust further affects the soil and air quality of the surrounding area. Dust has a large effect on the Earth’s climate by reflecting sunlight back into space and cooling the surface of the Earth. It also suppresses atmospheric convection and decreases the amount of rainfall. This lends further to the issue of lack of typical precipitation in the Aral Sea Basin. (Lioubimtseva, 2014)

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Ecosystem of the Aral Sea Basin: The Tien Shan Mountain Range

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Ecosystem of the Aral Sea Basin: The Tien Shan Mountain Range

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The Tian Shan mountain range sits along the border of China and Kyrgyzstan. The area supports a variety of fruit trees such as sweet apple, apricot, pears, pomegranates, and cherries. The wildlife of the area, bears, deer, and wild boars help to support the spreading of these crops through droppings (Hoogeveen, 2013).

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Agricultural cultivation includes mainly wheat and cotton, but also features a wide variety of rice and maize (Hoogeveen, 2013). More than 90 percent of the Aral Sea basin’s crops are produced on irrigated land. Cotton remains one of the most important crops cultivated in the Aral Sea Basin, however, in order to grow it an even larger amount of water is necessary. Between 1990 and 1998, its share of the irrigated water decreased from 45 to 25 percent (Hoogeveen, 2013). Due to its large use of water, cotton became the second most dominant crop in the region, losing only to wheat. Cereals also became much more frequently grown.

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Both agricultural production and livestock husbandry of the area surrounding the Aral Sea basin contribute to the issue of river and sea pollution though fertilizer and waste run off. Perhaps the biggest issue of all is the salinity of the Aral Sea. At its worst, salinity had risen to 0.3-2.0 g/litre (Ibrakhimov, 2007). The high level of salt content affected the land and vegetation around it, which in turn had a negative affect on livestock and wildlife in the area.

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The vast amount of usable land for agriculture in the area is part of the reason why the Aral Sea Basin is suffering today (Hoogeveen, 2013). Irrigation for agriculture reroutes water from the articulating rivers at an extremely high rate. This coupled with the ecosystem changes due to climate change means the water is unable to travel to the Aral Sea in quantities that would maintain its sea level.

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The population in the countries surrounding the Aral Basin in 1990, just before the fall of the USSR, totaled around 34 million. The mean annual rate of population growth in the late 1980s was about 2.8% in Uzbekistan, 2.60% in Kirghizstan, 3.2% in Tajikistan, 2.65% in Turkmenistan, and 1.06% in Kazakhstan. In 2008, the total population of these countries was 60,433,883 proving the fall of the population growth rate (Columbia Univ., N.D.). After the fall of the USSR, these countries transitioned from a centralized economy and with that brought great economic hardship as prices rose due to inflation. Health care also declined, leading to a greater death rate. As most of the central Asian country’s economies relied on agriculture, it became commonplace for farmers to have many children, in order to attain a larger work force. This reliance on agriculture in order to maintain the growing population and the economy led to the greater use of water in order to ensure a good harvest (Columbia Univ., N.D.).

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The solutions implemented by the governments of the countries in the Aral Sea Basin include the use of dams to reserve and redirect water flow, and the development of a two phase plan for rehabilitation of the waters and community surrounding it. These two plans incorporate the use of federal regulations and human behavior change in order to find a solution for the overuse of water for irrigation purposes (Hoogeveen, 2013). They also utilize building structures such as dams in order to maintain specific areas of the Aral Sea and it's tributary river.

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The solutions implemented by the countries of the Aral Sea Basin through the Syr Darya Control and the North Aral Sea Phases I and II projects take in to account the need to satisfy the need to create sustainability in the way with which humans interact with and affect the environment. They also address social responsibility by impacting the economy of the area as well through the revitalization of the fishing industries and supporting the agriculture industry in a sustainable manner (Hoogeveen, 2013).

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Environmental refugees and Human Vulnerability

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Environmental refugees and Human Vulnerability

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As the climate and environment changes in the Aral Sea basin, human vulnerability to climate change forced many to leave the area as environmental refugees. (As the books states, vulnerability and fragility are key factors in determining the ability for an individual to stay within an affected region). As the human-environmental system is affected by climate change, it’s sustainability of human life is determined by key dimensions of vulnerability, exposure to a hazard, sensitivity to the climate change stimuli, and the human-environmental system’s adaptive capacity. As the environment became more affected by climate change, the region’s ability to maintain its economic livelihood through agriculture and fishing also began to deteriorate. Due to the declining economy and environmental conditions, nearly 100,000 people immigrated from the area within the first years after the collapse of the USSR. Within the last decade, the number of environmental refugees has doubled from 3,000 to 6,000 (Lioubimtseva, 2014). The people who were unable to immigrate out of the area are those with even less ability to adapt to the changing climate and are therefore the most vulnerable.

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Following a 2004 conference between experts representing Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan developed a water and energy strategy, The Syr Darya Control and North Aral Sea Phase I Project. This is the first phase into the rehabilitation of the Syr Darya, a need that was highlighted under the Aral Sea Basin Program of 1994 (Hoogeveen, 2013). The purpose is to increase livestock, agriculture, and fish production in the Syr Darya Basin, and to enhance ecological and environmental conditions of the Northern Aral Sea. By building water infrastructure, they expect to rehabilitate the Northern Aral Sea. To maintain the integrity of the Northern Aral Sea, the Kok-Aral dyke was built in order to separate the North and South Aral Seas. Thanks to the successful efforts of Phase I, Phase II was approved in 2009. Phase II will improve irrigation and increase water supply for agriculture as well as support the fishing industry, aid public health concerns, and recover the Aral Sea ecosystem.

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Hydropower is the most important energy source for the countries surrounding the Aral Sea Basin. More than 80 dams have been constructed and 45 hydropower plants provide nearly all of the energy for some countries. The region has the potential to provide 71% of all energy to the surrounding countries (Hoogeveen, 2013).

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The drought of 1998-2001 forced the countries surrounding the Aral Sea Basin to begin using deeper groundwater in order to maintain their economically important agricultural production and for use as drinking water. The groundwater was of better quality than the surface water, which is highly salinized (Ibrakhimov, 2007). Private farmers access the deep ground water through wells and boreholes, leading to some areas of ground water where abstraction rates exceed the rate at which they must be at in order to sustain the resource (Hoogeveen, 2013).

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Climate change has affected the Aral Sea Basin and its surrounding area both in how hot the dry seasons get, and in how much precipitation the area actually experiences during the wet seasons. Current precipitation levels range annually from 80 – 200 mm in the lowlands, to 600 - 800 mm in the mountainous regions of the South and Southwest (Lioubimtseva, 2014). Due to the change in rates of precipitation, the annual mean of precipitation is projected to drop by 3% (Lioubimtseva, 2014). The drying of the Aral Sea changed its ability to control temperature by affecting the amount of water it contributes to evaporation.

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Following their independence after the fall of the USSR, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed agreements on the management of the Aral Sea basin, though some tension on the implementation of previous agreements remain an issue (Hoogeveen, 2013). The Aral Sea and it’s contributing rivers provide necessary water for crops, fishing resources, and recreation, which provide for the local economies and the livelihood of the countries who claim access to these waters. The current distribution of available fresh water per capita for Uzbekistan is 2596 m3/ per person annually, for Turkmenistan it is 4044 m3/ per person annually. For Tajikistan it is set at 1843/ per person annually, Kyrgyzstan at 1371 m3/ per person annually, and Kazakhstan at 1943 m3/ per person annually (Columbia Univ., N.D.).

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The transboundary Aral Sea basin includes the countries of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, The Osh, Djalal-Abad and Naryn provinces of Kyrgyzstan, Kyzylorda and South Kazakhstan provinces of Kazakhstan, northern Afghanistan and some of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Hoogeveen, 2013). The basin is mainly comprised of two major zones, the Turan Plains and the Mountainous Zone. The Turan Plain is broken down further by the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts. The mountainous zone contains into the Tien Shan and Pamir mountain ranges and includes the alluvial valleys between them (Hoogeveen, 2013).

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The Aral Sea basin spans nearly 1.9 million km2, the total volume of its rivers reaching 118.43 km3 (Lioubimtseva, 2014). The major rivers that comprise the watershed are the Syr Darya, Amu Darya, Tedzen (Hari Rod, as it’s called in Afghanistan), and the Murghab rivers (Lioubimtseva, 2014). As the surrounding land sees less and less reliable precipitation, the use of these rivers in rerouting water for agricultural lands has become imperative. The overuse of the rivers, however, contributed directly to the major issue facing the Aral Sea today, the drying of the sea bed.

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Ecosystem of the Aral Sea Basin: The Turan Plains

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Ecosystem of the Aral Sea Basin: The Turan Plains

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The Aral Sea basin touts a diverse ecosystem. From the deserts of the Turan Plains, to the lush mountains of the Tien Shan range, the naturally occurring terrestrial landmarks, wildlife and plant life represented in this basin are diverse and remarkable. The Turan Plains is home to various natural gas deposits, one of which, the Darvas gas crater, caved in on itself and has been perpetually burning for years, giving it the nickname “The door to hell” (Ghassemi, et al., 2019). Many desert dwelling creatures also call the Turan Plains home, including the corsac fox, tolai hare, and golden eagle (Rustamov, et al., 2007).

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The Aral Sea Basin is located in central Asia. It's many articulating rivers extend through multiple countries, and it's resources are rich. Although both climate change and human activity have affected this, efforts are being made to restore this watershed to it's former glory.

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From 1960 to present day, the Aral Sea has gone from the worlds fourth largest sea to a desolate dry bed, with only two smaller segments left as remnants of the sea's prosperous past. The sea and the vegetation surrounding it has salt content that has risen dramatically over the years, killing livestock. The soil in the Aral Sea Basin is particularly vulnerable to salinization due to the climatic and hydro-geolocial conditions (Hoogeveen, 2013). Additional infiltration of irrigation water to the drainage network and the deterioration of downstream water quality contribute to the issue of the level of salinity in the water. The natural evaporation process also affects the salinity of the water.

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In October 1990, Western scientists confirmed the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea in Soviet Central Asia, formerly the fourth largest inland sea in the world. The loss of sea water was the result of 60 years of intensive agriculture and pollution by the Soviet authorities. It is considered the biggest man-made loss of water in recorded history. The surrounding areas were devastated. Local fisherman watched as the shore gradually receded and fish stocks ran out. Local children fell victim to respiratory illnesses.
Professor Denys Brunsden, of London's King's College, was one of the first Western scientists to visit the Aral Sea in 1990. He spoke to Witness about the environmental devastation that he saw.

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BBC World Service - Witness History, The Disappearing Aral Sea

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In October 1990, Western scientists confirmed the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea in Soviet Central Asia, formerly the fourth largest inland sea in the world. The loss of sea water was the result of 60 years of intensive agriculture and pollution by the Soviet authorities.

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Until the fall of the USSR in 1991, the Aral Sea basin had been shared by the USSR and Afghanistan upon written agreement dictating both the use of the Amu Darya waters and the water quality. After 20 years of development, the relationship between the two countries deteriorated, leading to a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. The Soviet Union spent considerable time from 1970 onward trying to figure out a way to mitigate the shrinking size of the Aral Sea (Hoogeveen, 2013). After the collapse of the USSR, that environmental problem became an international issue.

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Ghassemi, Mohammad R., and Eduardo Garzanti. "Geology and geomorphology of Turkmenistan: A review." Geopersia 9.1 (2019): 125-140.

Hoogeveen, Jippe. “Aral Sea Basin.” AQUASTAT - FAO's Information System on Water and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/basins/aral-sea/index.stm.

Ibrakhimov, M., et al. "Groundwater table and salinity: Spatial and temporal distribution and influence on soil salinization in Khorezm region (Uzbekistan, Aral Sea Basin)." Irrigation and Drainage Systems 21.3-4 (2007): 219-236.

Lioubimtseva, Elena. "Impact of climate change on the Aral Sea and its basin." The Aral Sea. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2014. 405-427.

Rustamov, Anver, and Eldar Rustamov. Biodiversity conservation in Central Asia: on the example of Turkmenistan. Nagao Natural Environment Foundation, 2007.

“The Aral Sea Crisis.” The Aral Sea Crisis, Columbia University, http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/impacts to life in the region.htm.