This project aims to … improve living conditions | Latest Lifestyle News
Once a poster child for environmental disaster, the Aral Sea is making an unexpected comeback, and it’s making waves for all the right reasons.
A report from Kazakhstan showed the Northern Aral Sea is seeing more water than experts thought possible this soon, according to The Times of Central Asia.
Since 2023, roughly 5 billion cubic meters of water have flowed into the basin, lifting reserves to 24.1 billion cubic meters. To put that in perspective, Kazakhstan didn’t expect to hit that milestone until 2029.
The progress arrived years ahead of schedule due to improved water diplomacy, better resource allocation, and support from global partners like the World Bank.
The Aral Sea once ranked among the world’s largest inland bodies of water before decades of overuse and poor water management left it largely dried up. That collapse devastated ecosystems, worsened dust storms, and pushed communities into economic decline.
Now, with the surface area of the Northern Aral growing by 111 square kilometers in just three years, salinity levels are falling. Twenty-two species of fish have returned. Annual fish catches already total around 8,000 tons, bringing both food security and jobs back to the region.
Kazakhstan is pushing forward with a second phase of recovery, according to The Times of Central Asia, aiming to boost the sea’s capacity to 35 cubic kilometers. Plans include raising the Kokaral Dam, upgrading hydraulic infrastructure, and expanding cross-border cooperation with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to sustain steady inflows from the Syr Darya River.
“This project aims to increase both the volume and quality of water in the Northern Aral Sea, restore the Syr Darya delta, reduce salt dispersion from the exposed seabed, develop the fishing industry in the Kyzylorda region, and improve living conditions for local communities,” Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nurzhan Nurzhigitov said, per The Times of Central Asia.
To prevent history from repeating itself, the government is also incentivizing farmers to save water, now covering up to 80% of costs for water-saving technologies. Officials hope these measures will keep the region’s agriculture thriving without draining the recovering sea.
Ministry spokesperson Moldir Abdualyeva credited the progress to the power of “water diplomacy,” per The Times of Central Asia. Local communities are already feeling it: cleaner air from reduced salt storms, healthier ecosystems, and a revived fishing economy.
What was once seen as a symbol of irreversible loss may now stand as proof that environmental collapse doesn’t have to be the final chapter.
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