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| 8/4/2008 | The Kazakh Miracle: Recovery of the North Aral Sea |
| ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 1, 2008 (ENS) - Water is returning to the North Aral Sea in Central Asia that had shrunk to a quarter of its former size during the last half of the 20th century. Fish, sea birds and reptiles have begun to repopulate the Aral Sea and surrounding area. Although the seashore is shared by only two countries, Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan in the south, the Aral Sea Basin is fed by two large rivers, which run through the mountainous countries of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic and through the plains of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The Aral Sea began to shrink in the 1960s, when massive diversion of water for cotton and rice cultivation under the Soviet Union drained the two rivers that feed the sea, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya. The resulting three-quarters decrease in volume of the Northern Aral Sea by 1996 devastated the surrounding environment and ruined the traditional fishing economy of the bordering villages. This week the government of Kazakhstan announced that its US$260 million rescue program for the Northern Aral Sea is working. A portion of the Kok-Aral Dam (Photo by Brigitte Brefort courtesy World Bank) Launched in 2001 by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and supported by the World Bank, the program has increased the North Aral Sea's surface by about 30 percent since the last assessment was conducted in 2003, according to a statement Wednesday by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. The North Aral Sea's surface increased from 2,550 square kilometers (985 square miles) in 2003, the ministry said, to 3,300 square kilometers (1,275 square miles) in 2008. And the sea's depth increased from 30 meters (98 feet) in 2003 to 42 meters (138 feet) in 2008. To increase the volume of water being discharged into the northern part of the sea, the US$85.8 million Kok-Aral Dam was built jointly by the Government of Kazakhstan and the World Bank, with the bank providing a loan of US$65 million. The 13 kilometer (8 mile) long dam separating the smaller North Aral Sea from its larger, saltier and more polluted southern part was completed in August 2005. Since completing the dam, Kazakhstan has been able to keep the water from the Syr Darya River in the North Aral Sea. The Kok-Aral Dam is allowing the North Aral Sea to fill with water from the Syr Darya River. (Photo courtesy JAXA) Newly reconstructed, rebuilt, and rehabilitated waterworks along the Syr Darya are increasing the carrying capacity of the river, filling the Northern Aral Sea and benefiting farmers by irrigating their lands. With the water level now higher in the northern part of the sea, a sluice can begin operating to allow excess water to flow into the parched South Aral Sea. "As poor people around the world struggle to keep food on their tables in the face of rising prices, it is gratifying to see that Kazakhstan has found a way to give back fishermen and their families their way of life on the North Aral Sea," said World Bank President Robert Zoellick, who hails from the United States. "The return of the North Aral Sea shows that man-made disasters can be at least partly reversed, and that food production depends on the sound management of scarce water resources and the environment," said Zoellick. It's called the Kazakh Miracle. "We see the water now coming back, we are overwhelmed," says a Kazakh spokesperson for the rescue program who declined to be identified. "Indeed, all who witnessed the disaster and have since seen the regeneration have spoken of a miraculous transformation," he said. In the recent past only one species of fish remained in the North Aral Sea. Today, 15 different species have been recorded - bringing back work and income to about 100 local fishermen. Aral Sea fishermen are smiling again. (Photo by Brigitte Brefort courtesy World Bank) Fish exports have restarted and the local industry is growing. In the last year, two processing plants and three fish receiving centers have opened. Two more processing plants are scheduled and a new factory building fiberglass fishing boats is planned. Even the local climate has improved since the dam was completed. As the lake dried up, winters became colder and harsher, and summers became hotter and drier. Blowing dust, laden with pesticides and other chemicals, is routinely scoured from the dry lake bed and poses a severe public health hazard. But more recently, local news reports recorded more rain in the former port city of Aralsk, once stranded 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the shore of the shrunken sea. The sea is now creeping closer to Aralsk, bringing hope to its people. The frequency of sandstorms has decreased and the fish and waterfowl returned as the water level recovered. Fishermen are returning to the city and are planning to stock millions of young fish and to re-introduce the sturgeon to revive the lucrative fishery. The Aral Sea recovery project now enters its second phase focused on the revitalization of the dry former seabed with the cultivation of the native shrub saxaul. The plan is to accelerate the expansion of vegetative cover by planting saxaul in dried out areas, which is expected to increase the rate of natural regeneration, attracting other plant and animal species. Saxaul is a shrub indigenous to the arid salt deserts of Central Asia. Reaching heights of three to 10 meters, its thick bark acts as a water storage organ, so that water for humans and livestock can be extracted by pressing quantities of the bark. This hardy plant is known to prevent sand dune movement and protect arable lands, roads and buildings from sand debris. The saxaul planting project started in April when seeds were sown on the first 500 hectares (2 square miles). The objective of the US$10 million Aral Sea bed rehabilitation project is to plant about 80,000 hectares (310 square miles) over a period of 10 years. Pasture rehabilitation is part of the recovery program's next stage. The objective is to rehabilitate 75,000 hectares (290 square miles) of grass rangeland to be used for pasture. The recent increase in livestock numbers led to this program, which aims to develop sustainable approaches to rangeland management. | |
| 7/23/2008 | Urmia Lake Crisis |
| Urmia Lake, one of the largest hypersaline lakes of the world, is suffering from extremely increasing salinity since last 10 years. The salinity has exceeded 400 ppt at many areas of the lake and one can easily see salt crystallization on the surface of the lake with naked eye. It is interesting to know that Artemia is still struggling and fighting against this extreme salinity and one can observe them alive swimming in the lake. The lake has reduced in depth by over 6 meters and huge areas around the lake have dried up forming vast salty desert. It seems the lake is in the process of drying up and therefore Artemia urmiana and the water birds depending on the lake are being threatened to extinction. | |
| 7/1/2008 | ISSLR photographs |
| For a link to the photographs from the ISSLR in Salt Lake City, please head on over to the ISSLR OPEN FORUM! | |
| 5/26/2008 | Methods Manual for Salt Lake Studies (Wikibook) |
| Contacts: | en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Methods_Manual_for_Salt_Lake_Studies peri@deltaenvironmental.com.au |
| The framework for the Wikibook of salt lake methods is online now. Please consider donating any methods you find useful, or have developed, discussions about 'traps for young players', suggestions for additional chapters. Authors for entire chapters will be highly regarded! Wikbooks are compilations of existing knowledge, not original source material. So reference your original papers, using both standard referencing protocols and by making links to any papers hosted online. So log in to http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Methods_Manual_for_Salt_Lake_Studies and feel free to get started... | |
| 2/20/2008 | Ramsar mission examines potential impacts of soda ash plant on Lake Natron |
| Ramsar Advisory Mission No. 59: Tanzania (2008) The Africa Unit of the Ramsar Secretariat is preparing a Ramsar Advisory mission to Lake Natron, Tanzania. Based on recent information received by the Ramsar Secretariat from a number of stakeholders, the Ramsar Secretary General wrote to the Tanzanian Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism on 28 August 2007 to express concern about the possible threats to the Lake Natron Basin Ramsar site (shared by Tanzania and Kenya) from the proposed development of a soda ash extraction facility and its associated infrastructure. Similarly, the Executive Secretaries of CMS and AEWA wrote together on 14 June 2007 to the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism to express concerns over the possible impact of the planned development on the lake's ecosystem, the East African population of the Lesser Flamingo, and the species as a whole. In his 28 August 2007 letter to the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, the Ramsar Secretary General offered to assist the Government of Tanzania in fulfilling its obligations under the Ramsar Convention through the services of a Ramsar Advisory Mission (RAM). Such Missions provide technical assistance towards the management and conservation of sites whose ecological character is threatened. On 30 August 2007, the Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism wrote to the Ramsar Secretary General welcoming the proposed Ramsar Advisory Mission in order to assist Tanzania "to extract soda ash from Lake Natron, while safeguarding the environment, in particular the breeding habitats of lesser flamingo." It is worth noting that there are DANIDA resources available to produce an Integrated Management Plan for the Lake Natron Basin Ramsar site, and the RAM is seen as an opportunity to help develop a short-term plan for the site as a first step towards a long term integrated management plan. The objectives of the RAM are, among others: - to assess the threats to the conservation and wise use of the Lake Natron Basin Ramsar site; - to review measures included in the current proposal and the ESIA for minimizing and/or eliminating the negative environmental and social impacts, including possible transborder impacts, of the proposed facility; - to investigate options and alternatives available for further reducing and/or eliminating the negative environmental and social impacts; - to analyze the socio-economic implications to the local communities, the lake Natron region, Tanzania and the subregional (East Africa) and, indeed, the global community in general (i.e., for tourism/conservation, mining, rural development, etc); - to advise the Government of Tanzania concerning the inclusion of the Lake Natron Basin Ramsar site in the Montreux Record if the Convention text's article 3.2. applies; - to make recommendations to the Government of Tanzania and the Ramsar, CMS and AEWA Secretariats on the conservation and wise use measures that should be taken to safeguard the environment and the biodiversity of the Lake Natron Basin Ramsar site and the livelihoods of local stakeholders; - to assist GoT to prepare a short term plan for the Lake Natron Basin Ramsar Site, based on the available data, as the first step towardes a long term integrated management plan for the future of the area. - to explore views and suggestions from various key players and decision makers to see how this idea is received and plan for detailed analysis involving an environmental economist to provide the required information and; - at the request of the Government of Tanzania, to explore the possibility of international compensation for loss of revenue if the project is not implemented; The mission will last from 17 to 28 February 2008 and be made up of a multidisciplinary team which includes: i) the Chair of the Ramsar Standing Committee (Head of Delegation), ii) a representative of the Ramsar STRP, iii) the IUCN Species Survival Commission, iv) a representation of the CMS and its AEWA agreement, v) two consultants to deal with the wise use and socio-economic aspects of the mission. The first phase of the mission, from 17 to 20 February, will be devoted to extensive discussions with the following groups: i) governmental institutions involved in the Soda Ash project, ii) private and business sector, iii) NGOs/CSOs (including MPs and other elected officials of the project zone) and, iv) the donors' community. The second phase, from 21 to 28 of February, will be a field visit to Lake Natron and the surrounding area to see the important sites of the lake and meet with local officials and communities in the surrounding villages, and especially to discuss the irrigation systems and water usage. This phase will also include a visit to the Soda Ash extraction point on the lake. Finally, since Lake Natron is a transboundary lake and in accordance with the Convention's article 5, which promotes international cooperation in the case of a wetland extending over the territories of more than one Contracting Party or where a water system is shared by Contracting Parties, we have associated three representatives from the Administrative Authority of the Ramsar Convention in Kenya to participate in the mission as observers. This mission has been made possible thanks to the financial and technical contribution of the Ramsar Secretariat, CMS/AEWA conventions, and DANIDA funds to the Government of Tanzania. The mission overall coordination is assured by the African Unit of the Ramsar Secretariat. -- Mr Abou Bamba, Ramsar | |
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