This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Case study Box 2.6.1: The Aral Sea


The drying of the Aral Sea has come to symbolize the environmental problems of Central Asia. In the 1960s the Amu Darya (72 cubic kilometres annual inflow to the Aral Sea) and Syr Darya (37 cubic kilometres annual inflow to the Aral Sea) rivers accounted for 80 per cent of the hydrological inputs to the Aral Sea, with average annual water discharge of 56 cubic kilometres. Extraction to meet the irrigation needs of large-scale cotton production, however, reduced flow to such an extent that the Syr Darya discharged no water at all to the Aral Sea between 1974 and 1986, and the Amu Darya discharged very little or none during 1982-1983, 1985-1986 and 1989 (Izrayel and Anokhin 1991). In 1986, the Aral Sea divided into two separate water reservoirs, the Large and the Small Aral Sea. Kazakhstan supported by the World Bank and scientists built a dam (Kok-Aral dike) in 2005 which prevented the water of the Syr Darya from flowing into the Large Aral Sea (i.e. Southern Aral), and together with irrigation efficiency improvements the discharge into the Small Aral Sea (i.e. Northern Aral) could be increased. Consequently, the Northern Aral recovered and the surface and water level significantly rose, while salinity dropped, allowing freshwater fish such as pike, perch and carp to return to the sea (Walters 2010). However, there is no hope that the entire Aral Sea can be revitalized (Sehring and Diebold 2012).


season once the glaciers exceed their replenishment rates (Micklin 2007; Stern 2007). Reductions in flow due to climate change have been estimated at 7-15 per cent for the Amu Darya and 5 per cent for the Syr Darya by 2050 (Sehring and Diebold 2012).


2.6.3 Multiple water challenges, particularly in transboundary river basins


Climate change will further increase the complexity of transboundary water management, as any change in the use and natural conditions at one point in a river and groundwater basin will affect the availability and quality of water resources for other uses in the river basin. Water use by sectors - influenced by climate change, socio-economic developments and other policies - is likely to have a greater influence on the state of water resources and the volumes of discharges than climate change, even though climate change is expected to exacerbate those tendencies. While hydropower generation potentially affects the timing of discharges in a major way, it is still non-consumptive. (UNEP- DHI and UNEP 2016). The water energy nexus is one aspect of this (More...96).


Analysis of the history of conflicts and cooperation over water in transboundary basins suggests that some


108


political, socio-economic and physical circumstances may act as exacerbating factors and increase the risk of hydro- political tensions due to basin development in the absence of institutional capacity (Wolf et al. 2003). Transboundary cooperation frameworks are crucial, and water management requires coordination over different political, legal and institutional settings as well as over different information management approaches and financial arrangements (Petersen-Perlman and Wolf 2015). Key principles are equitable and reasonable utilization; not causing significant harm; environmental protection and conservation of ecosystems; cooperation, including information exchange, notification of planned measures and consultation; and peaceful settlement of disputes. These principles are accepted globally as principles of international water law and are incorporated in modern international conventions, agreements and treaties, including the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UNECE Water Convention), the United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Water Courses Convention) and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The UNECE Water Convention, now open for global accession, and the UN Watercourses Convention incorporate all the above- mentioned principles.


GEO-6 Assessment for the pan-European Region


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254  |  Page 255  |  Page 256  |  Page 257  |  Page 258  |  Page 259  |  Page 260  |  Page 261  |  Page 262  |  Page 263  |  Page 264  |  Page 265  |  Page 266  |  Page 267  |  Page 268  |  Page 269  |  Page 270  |  Page 271  |  Page 272  |  Page 273  |  Page 274  |  Page 275  |  Page 276  |  Page 277  |  Page 278  |  Page 279  |  Page 280  |  Page 281  |  Page 282  |  Page 283  |  Page 284  |  Page 285  |  Page 286  |  Page 287  |  Page 288  |  Page 289  |  Page 290  |  Page 291  |  Page 292  |  Page 293  |  Page 294  |  Page 295  |  Page 296  |  Page 297  |  Page 298  |  Page 299  |  Page 300  |  Page 301  |  Page 302  |  Page 303  |  Page 304  |  Page 305  |  Page 306  |  Page 307  |  Page 308  |  Page 309  |  Page 310  |  Page 311  |  Page 312  |  Page 313  |  Page 314  |  Page 315  |  Page 316  |  Page 317  |  Page 318  |  Page 319  |  Page 320  |  Page 321  |  Page 322  |  Page 323  |  Page 324  |  Page 325  |  Page 326  |  Page 327  |  Page 328  |  Page 329  |  Page 330  |  Page 331  |  Page 332  |  Page 333  |  Page 334  |  Page 335  |  Page 336  |  Page 337  |  Page 338  |  Page 339  |  Page 340  |  Page 341  |  Page 342  |  Page 343  |  Page 344  |  Page 345  |  Page 346  |  Page 347  |  Page 348  |  Page 349  |  Page 350  |  Page 351  |  Page 352  |  Page 353  |  Page 354  |  Page 355  |  Page 356  |  Page 357  |  Page 358  |  Page 359  |  Page 360  |  Page 361  |  Page 362  |  Page 363  |  Page 364  |  Page 365  |  Page 366  |  Page 367  |  Page 368  |  Page 369  |  Page 370  |  Page 371  |  Page 372  |  Page 373  |  Page 374  |  Page 375  |  Page 376