Karakum canal

From 1956 considerable volumes of the Amudarya flow were transferred by the Karakum canal to arid regions of Turkmenistan. In the last years water delivery by the canal amounts to 10-11 km per year. 

Generations change and current generations only hear about the good old days in stories but may not have had first-hand experience with those days that were free of water and air pollution or days that were once relatively free of water scarcity problems in, for example, the lower reaches of the Amudarya and the Syrdarya. To a majority of the current Aral Basin population, there was always a Karakum Canal (begun in 1954) taking water out of the Amudarya. Most likely, they do not know what life was like before the canal was constmcted, except by way of history, documentaries, visits to the local museums and the reminiscence of their elders. 

Continued cotton expansion Karakum Canal completion increased diversions, dust storms,... 

Expansion of cotton production after 1950s increased use of fertilizers and pesticides building of Karakum Canal in mid-1950s... 

---