Northern river reversal
The Northern river reversal or Siberian river reversal was an ambitious project to divert the flow of the Northern rivers in the Soviet Union, which "uselessly" drain into the Arctic Ocean, southwards towards the populated agricultural areas of Central Asia, which lack water.[1][2]
Research and planning work on the project started in the 1930s and was carried out on a large scale in the 1960s through the early 1980s. The controversial project was abandoned in 1986, primarily for environmental reasons, without much actual construction work ever done.
Development of the river rerouting projects
The project to turn Siberian rivers goes back to the 1830s, when tsarist surveyor Alexander Shrenk proposed it[2] when the big canal engineering projects were conceived (i.e. the Suez and Panama canals).
The project of turning some of the flow of the northern rivers to the south was discussed, on a smaller scale, in the 1930s. In November 1933, a special conference of the
In January 1961, several years after Zhuk's death,
About 120 institutes and agencies participated in the
The plans involved not only irrigation, but also the replenishing of the shrinking Aral Sea and Caspian Sea.
In the 1970s construction started to divert the Pechora River through the Kama River toward the Volga and the Caspian Sea in the south-west of Russia. In 1971, at a meeting of the
It was estimated that 250 more nuclear detonations would have been required to complete the levelling for the channel if the procedure had been continued. Pollution on the surface was found to be manageable. In the US, expert opinion was divided with some endorsing this project. The physicist Glenn Werth, of the University of California's
In the 1980s at least 12 of the Arctic Ocean-bound rivers were proposed to be redirected to the south. At that time it was estimated that an additional freeze-up would occur (delaying the spring thaw) and cut the brief northern growing season by two weeks, if 37.8 billion extra cubic meters of water were returned annually to the European side of Russia and 60 billion cubic meters in Siberia. The adverse effect of climatic cooling was greatly feared and contributed much to the opposition at that time, and the scheme was not taken up. Severe problems were feared from the thick ice expected to remain well past winter in the proposed reservoirs. It was also feared that the prolonged winter weather would cause an increase in spring winds and reduce vital rains. More disturbing, some scientists cautioned that if the Arctic Ocean was not replenished by fresh water, it would get saltier and its freezing point would drop, and the sea ice would begin to melt, possibly starting a global warming trend. Other scientists feared that the opposite might occur: as the flow of warmer fresh water would be reduced, the polar ice might expand. A British climatologist Michael Kelly warned of other consequences: changes in polar winds and currents might reduce rainfall in the regions benefiting from the river redirection.[2]
Criticism of the project and its abandonment
In 1986 a resolution "On the Cessation of the Work on the Partial Flow Transfer of Northern and Siberian Rivers" was passed by the
According to Alexey Yablokov, President of the NGO Centre for Russian Environmental Policy, 5–7% redirection of the Ob's water could lead to long-lasting changes in the climate of the Arctic and elsewhere in Russia, and he opposes these changes to the environment affected by Siberian water redirections to the south. Despite the increase in Siberian rainfall, the redirection has become highly politicised, and Yaroslav Ishutin, director of the Altai Krai Regional Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, claims that the Ob has no water to spare and that Siberia's water resources are threatened.[6]
Calls for resumption of the project
In the early 21st century interest on this
See also
- Water export
- Bradfield Scheme
- Coastal reservoir
- Chicago River reversal
- Great construction projects of communism, other ambitious Soviet projects
- Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature
- southern India; for the purposes of water supply and flood control.
- Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal
- North American Water and Power Alliance
- South–North Water Transfer Project
References
- ^ a b c "Saving the Caspian", Time U.S., Monday, March 17, 1975.
- ^ a b c "Making Rivers Run Backward", Time U.S., Frederic Golden; By Frederic Golden, reported by: Erik Amfitheatr, Monday, June 14, 1982.
- ^ ISBN 0-520-23213-5. p. 415.
- ^ Michael Overman, "Water". Doubleday, 1969, no ISBN. ("Rerouting of Rivers", p. 183 and on).
- ^
Michael H. Glantz, "Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea Basin", Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-521-62086-4, 291 pages, p. 174.
- ^ PDF (500 KB).
- ^ Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Newsline, 02-09-30