INTAS Aral Sea Project 2000-1003, 'Study of the Groundwater Role in Water Resources of the Aral Sea Region: Ecological Policy, Assessment and Prediction'

Clustered with INTAS Aral Sea Project 1014 and IFM Hamburg link

Latest Report: March 25, 2004

Aral Sea Database

The continuing drying up of the landlocked Aral Sea as a result of irrigation purposes in surrounding countries is one of the World’s greatest environmental disasters. It has caused a decline in the productive capacity and social conditions of the 5 million people living in the region of the Sea due to the degradation of the quality of their drinking water and health, the salination of agricultural lands, a reduction in biodiversity, pollution due to the run-off of pesticides, fertilisers, etc and local climatic changes.
On the other hand, the irrigation of land surrounding the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers has brought significant benefits to others making it impossible to contemplate a reversion to the previous water usage that allowed for sufficient water to flow into the Aral Sea to counteract natural evaporation losses. Instead it is necessary to explore solutions to problems affecting the people of the region that would allow the Aral Sea to at least stabilize.
Following the INTAS Aral Sea Basin Call in 2000, the Association funded 19 projects covering various scientific fields: 4 in chemistry, 5 in life sciences, 10 in environment. As the projects are now running for over one year, the Association wished to organise a mid-term review conference with the following objectives:

To present preliminary results already obtained in the frame of this call-
To inform the scientists concerned by the other projects about the research carried out-
To stimulate the exchange of ideas and to incite comments on the projects.

Summary

EMonument is the Co-Ordinator of the 36 month ARAL 2001-1003 project which is designed to consolidate fundamental areas of research available through INTAS, associated and NIS countries, in fields investigations and modelling, that are necessary for understanding, quantifying, forecasting and combating the Aral Sea region desertification process. Special attention will be paid to fresh and low-brackish groundwater spreading in hydrological cycle and to the groundwater intake influence on the environment. Groundwater inflow quantitative assessment allows the determination of the role of groundwater in salt and water balance, coastal zones balance and helps to characterize the distribution of fresh groundwater resources suitable for domestic water supply.

The role of groundwater in public water supply has increased dramatically in many countries during the last decades. This is because groundwater as a source of water supply offers a number of advantages over surface water. These are, as a rule, higher quality, better safety, fewer seasonal level fluctuations. Usually groundwater is evenly distributed over territories and its pre-utilization treatment does not require such great expenses as compared with those for the construction of hydraulic structures. These structures are necessary to use surface water. At present the percentage of groundwater in public water supply reaches 50-60% in a lot of developed countries and more than 60% in arid countries.

Surface water resources contamination (and often depletion) is a reason to use groundwater more intensively. In a number of regions, especially in Central Asia including the Aral Sea region, it reached a catastrophically large scale. However, groundwater over-development in several regions (Germany, the Netherlands etc.) led to adverse changes in other components of the environment groundwater flow reduction, the suppression or even failure of vegetation, land subsidence. The process last-mentioned leads to coastal zones submergence, and the processes of intrusion of sea water into banks become more active. Therefore, in determining the perspectives of groundwater use, one should consider groundwater not only as a commercial deposit but also and above all as a part of water resources and an important component of the environment.

Taking that into account it should be noticed that groundwater in many arid regions is an alternative and often the only possible source for public water supply that can provide terrestrial ecosystems with pure, safe drinking water of high quality. All the above-mentioned apply equally to Central Asia arid regions and in the first place to the Aral Sea basin, where water resources degradation assumed a catastrophic character. The following investigations will be carried out:

TASK 1 Compilation, generalization and analysis of available hydrological and hydro-geological materials, including data from bore holes and active water collections. The analysis of water quality monitoring network data. Field exploration work, bench tests and control measurements.
Responsible Partner; CR4: Dr. Evgueni A. Kontar: P.P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia)
Partners Involved: CO, CR2, CR4, CR5, CR6, CR7, CR8

TASK 2 Groundwater inflow regional quantitative assessment that includes specific factors (modulus of groundwater flow, groundwater runoff coefficient, coefficient of groundwater flow into lakes and rivers) on the Aral Sea basin.
Responsible Partner; CR4: Dr. Evgueni A. Kontar: P.P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia)
Partners Involved: CR1, CR5, CR6, CR7, CR8

TASK 3 Determination of technogen load of Cretaceous water-bearing layers of artesian underwater basin of the Aral Sea region, their studying, revealing, estimation and classification.
Responsible Partner; CR1: Professor Dr. Merkel Broder: TU BAF, Department of Hydrogeology, Institute of Geology of the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany
Partners Involved: CR2, CR3, CR6

TASK 4 Researching technogen evolution of the hydrogeological processes at the Cretaceous water-bearing layers.
Responsible Partner; CR1: Professor Dr. Merkel Broder: TU BAF, Department of Hydrogeology, Institute of Geology of the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany
Partners Involved: CO, CR2, CR6

TASK 5 Substantiation of the regulations for decentralized economic drinking water supply.
Responsible Partner; CO: Iain C. Muse: EnvironMonument (EMonument), Belgian Branch of Ecological (Environmental) Association, Assebroek, Brugge, Belgium
Partners Involved: CR1, CR2, CR3, CR6

TASK 6 Study of the deep situated (Senonian-Turonian) aquifers and their groundwater in the Aral Sea region with respect to the possible use for water supply.
Responsible Partner; CR1: Professor Dr. Merkel Broder: TU BAF, Department of Hydrogeology, Institute of Geology of the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany
Partners Involved: CR6, CR7, CR8

TASK 7 Modelling of groundwater flow into the Aral Sea, quantitative assessment of the groundwater role in water and salt balance of the water bodies.
Responsible Partner; CR4: Dr. Evgueni A. Kontar: P.P.Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia)
Partners Involved: CR1, CR5, CR7, CR8

TASK 8 Elucidation of the main regularities and peculiarities of groundwater flow formation and distribution in different natural-climatic, hydrological - hydro-geological and anthropogenic conditions. Assessment and prediction of groundwater spreading as the main part of its replenishable resources under the conditions of developing desertification.
Responsible Partner; CO: Iain C. Muse: EnvironMonument (EMonument), Belgian Branch of Ecological (Environmental) Association, Assebroek, Brugge, Belgium
Partners Involved: CR1, CR2, CR3, CR4, CR5 CR7, CR8

TASK 9 Assessment of the rational groundwater use perspectives under minimum adverse effect of groundwater intake on the environment. All models will be tested on concrete sampling areas and carried out using GIS.
Responsible Partner; CR2: Dr. Nasirdjan Takhirov: NUU, Department of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, The National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Partners Involved: CR1, CR2, CR3, CR4, CR5 CR7, CR8

Participants:

CO : Iain C. Muse: EnvironMonument (EMonument), (Belgium)

CR1 : Prof. Merkel: Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg (Germany)

CR2 : Dr. Takhirov: The National University of Uzbekistan