The Inter-Relationship Between Irrigation, Drainage and the Environment in the Aral Sea Basin

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

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2. Conclusions and Recommendations

   • Marinus G. Bos

   Pages 1-5

3. The Interrelationship between Irrigation, Drainage and the Environment

   • M. G. Bos, R. van Aart

   Pages 7-19

4. Environmental Benefits of Reducing Collector-Drain Runoff and Ways to Improve Irrigation Water Quality in the Rivers of the Aral Sea Basin

   • Vadim Berdjansky, Igor Zaks

   Pages 21-26

5. Planning for Drainage Development in the Aral Sea Basin

   • Walter J. Ochs, Lambert K. Smedema

   Pages 27-33

6. Impressions and Findings of a Study Tour to Karakalpakia in Central Asia

   • Peter Wolff

   Pages 35-43

7. Drainage Development in the Arid Zones of Central Asia

   • Victor Dukhovny

   Pages 45-53

8. Choice of Envelope Materials for the Rehabilitation of the Drainage Network in Uzbekistan

   • Nikolay Goroshkov, Aurika Galustyan

   Pages 55-59

9. The Construction and Effectiveness of Combined Drainage Systems

   • Pulat Umarov

   Pages 61-67

10. The Contribution of Horizontal Subsurface Drainage to Solving the Aral Sea Economic and Environmental Problem

    • David B. Chalcroft

    Pages 69-82

11. Flow through Wetlands for Controlling Water Quality in Discharges from Irrigated Areas

    • Jan C. Post Sr., Walter J. Ochs

    Pages 83-89

12. Comparing Surface and Subsurface Drainage in Rice Irrigation Systems of Kazakhstan

    • A. A. Dzhumabekov

    Pages 91-93

13. Environmental and Economic Benefit of Subsurface Horizontal Drainage Construction

    • Berdjansky Vladimir, Berdjansky Vadim

    Pages 95-100

14. Improving Drainage Water Quality by Constructing Wetland Ecosystems in the Catchment Area of the Amu Darya, Aral Sea Region

    • Peter Veen, Anatoly Krutov

    Pages 101-111

15. Irrigation Systems, Water Use Efficiency and Environmental Impacts

    • I. Papadopoulos

    Pages 113-123

16. Measures to Increase the Efficiency of Irrigated Lands in Kyrgyzstan

    • Ivan Duyunov

    Pages 125-128

17. The Use of Decision Support Systems in Water Management

    • Jean-Pierre R. A. Sweerts, Peter C. G. Glas

    Pages 129-142

18. Conjunctive Water Management for the Aral Sea Basin

    • Lyman S. Willardson

    Pages 143-152

19. Drainage Problems and Solutions in the San Joaquin Valley of California, U.S.A.

    • Joseph C. McGahan

    Pages 153-160

20. The Use of Specific Environmental Publications for Local Capacity Building for Irrigation and Drainage Projects Within the Aral Sea Basin

    • T. C. Dougherty

    Pages 161-173

The irrigated area in the Aral Sea basin totals about 7. 5 million hectare. Part of the water supplied to this area is consumed by the irrigated crop; the remainder of the supplied water drains to the groundwater basin, to downstream depressions, or back to the rivers. During its use, however, this drained part of the water accumulates salts and chemicals. The disposal of this polluted water causes a variety of (environmental) problems. If the percentage consumed water of the total water supply to an irrigated area (the so-called overall consumed ratio) can be increased, less water needs to be drained. This alleviates part of the related (environmental) problems. Further, if the overall consumed ratio for the above 7. 5 million hectare is improved, less water needs to be diverted from the rivers. Hence, more water can flow towards the Aral Sea. As mentioned above, part of the non-consumed irrigation water drains to the groundwater basin. Commonly, the natural discharge capacity of this basin is insufficient to handle this imported water. As a result, the groundwater table rises towards the land surface causing waterlogging. In (semi-)arid zones this waterlogging triggers a soil salinity problem resulting to a significant reduction in crop yields. The artificial increase of the discharge capacity, and lowering of the groundwater table, solves the soil salinity problem.

• Groundwater
• Irrigation
• development
• ecosystem
• environment
• rice
• salinity
• water
• water management
• water table
• ecotoxicology
• water quality and water pollution
• hydrogeology

• International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement, Wageningen, The Netherlands

  Marinus G. Bos

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