Aral Sea Crisis: Large Scale Irrigation and Its Impact on Drinking Water Quality and Human Health

Abstract

The Central Asia, home of 40 million people, is located in the land locked region with extreme continental climate. The agriculture feeds almost all population. The decisions during Soviet times on making Central Asia cotton basket of Soviet Union had on-going impacts even today. Millions of people left their home places due to environmental crisis. Every year millions are suffering without drinking water and water for irrigation. The human environment of the basin has also been totally changed. The Aral Sea region now is a completely artificial territory, governed by unnatural processes. The extent of these changes is so great that natural rehabilitation is impossible. More than 2.5 million people live in this disaster zone. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on (i) socio-economic, ecological and institutional changes that contributed to the Aral Sea crisis, and (ii) present status of water resources use and possible developments in the region. The research is based on author's extensive field trips and research during 2001–2006 to the Aral Sea area, and extensive literature review on impacts of large-scale irrigation, e.g. soil salinity and high groundwater levels on human health. The research has indicated that in Central Asia, the irrigation systems are unsustainable, tend to create still huge risks to the human health and the large scale systems, created during the Soviet era became both economically and socially unfitting into the new systems of economy.