Environmental Protection and the Diversion of Northern and Siberian Rivers to the Southern Regions of the Nation

Abstract

Although our country has at its disposal vast reserves of fresh water, they are very unevenly distributed territorially. Over 80 percent of the natural river runoff is in the economically undeveloped northern and eastern regions, and only 20 percent is in the developed regions, which are inhabited by approximately 85 percent of the population. The balance of water resources may become particularly strained in the southern regions, with their numerous industrial enterprises, large areas of irrigated land, and unique fisheries. The water shortage can be compensated for in various ways. For instance, the Institute of Hydrogeology and Hydrophysics of the Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences estimates that water supply problems of Central Asia and Kazakhstan can be resolved on the basis of local resources through regulation of surface water, organization of the correct and more economical irrigation of cultivated land, reduction in losses due to filtration in the arterial canals, reduction in water inputs per unit of output, and expansion of the scale of demineralization of sea water, with the aid of atomic and other technical installations. The mobilization of these reserves will ultimately make it possible to obtain not only the 20 km³ of water that are needed for the further development of irrigation farming in Central Asia and Kazakhstan but even a considerably greater volume of water. It is also necessary to consider the fact that the reserves of annually renewable subsurface water in Kazakhstan amount to 45 km³ [2].