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Central Asia: Water Tensions Soon To Boil Over?
June 20th, 2008
From Radio Free Europe, a detailed look at how age-old water problems are bringing tensions to a boil in Central Asia. As the article notes: “…The cities, towns, and villages of western Uzbekistan, and western Central Asia in general, are facing the same hot summer short of water — a cruel fate considering many of these areas […]
Read more »Turkmenistan’s Lake in the Desert: A Modern Day Mirage?
June 17th, 2008
Via Aquadoc, a report that Turkmenistan is proceeding with its grand scheme to create a lake in a desert located in the northwest part of the country, southwest of Sarykamish Lake, in the Karashor Depression. Initally conceived during the tenure of its late dictator Saparmurat Niyazov (aka ‘Turkmenbashi’ – ‘Father of all Turkmens’) ground for […]
Read more »Central Asia’s Water Challenges: Uzbekistan’s Legacy of Salt
June 17th, 2008
Via The New York Times, an interesting article detailing the destructive environmental and human legacy left behind in Uzbekistan, a land-locked country whose rivers were diverted to grow cotton on arid land, causing the Aral Sea, a large saltwater lake, to lose more than half of its surface area in 40 years. As noted in […]
Read more »Water Squabbles Irrigate Tensions in Central Asia
June 17th, 2008
Via Reuters, more on water-related tensions in Central Asia: “…Gulbakhor’s despair, shared by millions of Tajiks in this tiny ex-Soviet nation north of Afghanistan, reflects a growing sense of alarm throughout Central Asia where stability depends on the region’s scarcest and most precious commodity: water. From tiny irrigation canals to the powerful Soviet-era hydroelectric plants, […]
Read more »Water shortages in Kyrgyzstan Cause Serious Problems in Uzbekistan
June 17th, 2008
From Eurasia.net, a report that low water levels in the Toktogul dam of Kyrgyzstan are having an adverse impact on Uzbek agriculture, as Toktogul is the main water reservoir in Fergana Valley. As the article notes: “…Uzbekistan is already having problems with irrigation of cotton fields in its Fergana valley part. The abnormal weather – […]
Read more »T. Boone Pickens: Water is the New Oil
June 13th, 2008
As recently reported by Business Week, T. Boone Pickens thinks water is the “new oil’ and he’s betting $100 million that he is correct. As the article notes: “…Pickens has also bought up the rights to a considerable amount of water that lies below this part of the High Plains in a vast aquifer that […]
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