Causes of the Aral Sea Disaster

A great calamity befell the Aral Sea, but what exactly was this catastrophe and how did it happen? From the time humans first settled in the area up until the mid 20th century the Aral Sea never came under any real threat. This changed in the 1960s when Soviet engineers began to build irrigation canals along the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers (the two most important rivers in supplying water to the Aral Sea). The idea was first proposed in the late 1940s by the leader of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin. This plan came in response to famines that struck the Soviet Union in 1946-1947 resulting in the deaths of 500,000-1,000,000 people. The project was named "The Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature" an appropriate title, since that the plan literally called for bending nature to man's will. The operation would be enormous and take decades to carry out, and its purpose was to turn the dry steppes of Central Asia into a system of shelterbelts and subsequent farms suitable for growing a variety of crops. The shelterbelts would block the relentless winds of the Central Asian plains and prevent soil erosion. With the help of irrigation canals these shelterbelts and the farms they protect could be built and provide food for the Soviet Union. The end goal was a Soviet State that could provide its own food and not have to rely on foreign imports. To carry out this ambitious plan the flows of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya had to be diverted. These two rivers would provide the irrigation necessary for planting the forest strips that would shield the farms from desertification.

In the 1960s irrigation canals were dug and watered the surrounding areas, allowing for crops that were not usually found in the central Asian Steppe to be grown. Rice, melons, cereals, and cotton were grown successfully, much to the delight of Soviet administrators. Those in charge of the project were well aware of what would happen to the Aral Sea after the irrigation canals were built. Soviet experts knew that the Aral Sea would dry up but they did not predict the human and environmental health catastrophe that would follow it. Some believed that the Aral Sea was "nature's error" and would inevitably dry up due to evaporation anyway. Since the Aral Sea was already doomed to disappear they figured "hey why not speed up the process and help ourselves in the meantime?" They did just that. Stalin's plan to transform nature achieved its goal of supplying the Soviet Union with food and cash crops to export. In 1988 the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan was the world's #1 exporter of cotton. Natures had been conquered and bent to the will of man, but at what cost?

Throughout the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s the irrigation canals built along the Syr and Amu Darya Rivers used increasingly more water meant for the Aral Sea. The result was a sea level drop that increased more with each passing decade. By 1998, the Aral sea had lost 80% of its original volume. Even after the breakup of the Soviet Union, local governments in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan continued the irrigation practices that robbed the Aral Sea of its water. In 2014, the product of these governments' ambition can be seen and felt by all of the world despite the fact that most of the perpetrators of this disaster are no longer alive to see their creation.