Краткое содержание отчета по экологической оценке Проекта по уст ойчивом у управлению т верды м и от ходами

Surface water and ground water resources
279. 
The major transit river in Karakalpakstan is the Amudarya. The Amudarya is partially 
a regulated river. In the upstream there is the Nurek dam on the Vaksh River, which is 
currently run mainly for all-the-year-round production of hydroelectric power. The Tuyamuyun 
dam in the upper delta of the Amudarya provides for the inter-seasonal storage of water, and 
the Takhiatash dam located to the north provides gravity distribution of water for irrigation of 
lands bordering the Sub-Aral area. The flow of the Amudarya is regularized by means of a 
complex of reservoirs (Channel, Tuyamuyun, Kaparas, Sutansanjar and Koshbulak 
reservoirs) impounded with four main dams completed between 1981 in 1983 in Tuyamuyun, 
some 300 km upstream of the former geographical boundaries of the Aral Sea and extending 
over the territories of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Based on planning, the reservoir 
complex is used to regularize the flow of the Amudarya mainly for agriculture (98%), and 
partly for industry and drinking water supply (up to 2%).
280. 
Nowadays the flow of the Amudarya reaches the village Porlitau, in the Muynak 
district, some 40 km Southeast of Muynak city, where the river is impounded and the flow 
diverted into a lagoon extending south of the road connecting Shagilik to Porlitau. Based on 
a 10-year record period (2006-2015), the flow of the Amudarya at the gauging station Kiziljar, 
near Porlitau averages a still non-negligible 167 m3/s. However, the discharge of the lower 
Amudarya varies significantly from year to year, and can decrease to alarmingly low values. 
In 2011, the flow or the Amudarya at Kiziljar has averaged a low 15 m3/s. There are four 
recognized groundwater aquifers in Karakalpakstan: (1) the lower Amudarya aquifer, 
extending in both right and left bank of the Amudarya; (ii) the Karakalpak aquifer in the left 
bank of the river; (iii) the Khorezm aquifer; and (iv) the Turtkul aquifer.
281. 
Generally, groundwater in Karakalpakstan is salinized due to the high salinization of 
the groundwater bearing sediments. Shallow aquifers of generally limited extension are 
found within old alluvial river channels, constituted by alluvial sediments and recharged 
mainly by water seepages from irrigation canals. Due to the recharge of surface water from 
canals, which generally exhibits moderate mineralization content, these lenses of
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groundwater can be exploited for local water supplies. The exploitable reserves of these 
aquifers are limited in quantity due to the limited and variable recharge and also in time due 
to the upcoming invasion of salinized groundwater from the peripheral zones of the lenses of 
fresh groundwater. These groundwater lenses are generally exploited by means of small 
discharge wells for the supply of remote settlements, and in amounts carefully planned in 
order to relent as much as possible the diffusion of the surrounding salinized groundwater.
Soils
282. 
The Republic of Karakalpakstan is located in the northwestern part of Uzbekistan, its 
area being estimated at 167,100 square kilometres or over 37 percent of Uzbekistan's entire 
territory. The territory of Karakalpakstan can be conditionally divided into four geographical 
districts: Karakalpak part of the Ustyurt, Karakalpak part of the Kyzyl Kum, lower reaches of 
Amudarya, and relatively newly emerged solonchak sands of the Aral Sea. Karakalpakstan 
has a wide range of soils, from sandy soils of the deserts with hummocky and barkhan sands 
to marshy soils of the floodplain forests in the Amudarya mouth. Karakalpakstan's soils are 
characterized by different salinity degrees and are subdivided into non-saline, weakly saline 
and highly saline (salt content of more than 0.5 g per 100 cm3 of soil).
283. 
Boggy floodplain-and-alluvial soils occupy narrow bands around the lakes and in the 
topographic lows with meadow-and-bog vegetation. Most of the year, these soils are water­
logged. By the texture, there are various soils: sandy, clayey, loamy, ever-stratified. Meadow 
soils are most widespread in the territory of Karakalpakstan. Depending on the water regime, 
they can be divided into two types: meadow floodplain-and-alluvial and meadow residual- 
and-marshy. The drying out part of the floodplain is predominated by the humus-rich mildly 
saline option. Sulphates predominate in the salt’s composition. In addition to the above, 
clean sandy soils, i.e. sands, also occur in Karakalpakstan's territory. The sands of the 
Northwestern Kyzyl Kum emerged as a result of Aeolian reprocessing of alluvium, and those 
in the region of Sultan Wa'is Taui upland and southeastern Aral seaboard - as a result of 
bedrock weathering.