Elena Dolgova
Seventy years ago, in July 1954, construction began on one of the 20th century’s greatest engineering feats: the Karakum Canal. The project was initially conceived to support increased cotton cultivation in Turkmenistan. However, it soon evolved into a grand realization of the Turkmen people’s age-old dream: to transform the barren lowlands of the Kopetdag foothills into flourishing oases. Simultaneously, plans were laid for the construction of the first two reservoirs of the future hydraulic system – Tejen and Sary-Yazi.
This monumental undertaking was a collaborative effort involving the entire Soviet Union. Machinery, equipment, and expertise poured in from over 200 cities across the country. Industrial giants in Moscow, Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg), Yaroslavl, Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod), Minsk, Tashkent, and Dushanbe contributed to the project.
How was it
Initially, the riverbed was excavated simultaneously from two points: a dry trench from Mary and a water-filled channel from Kerki (present Lebap province). Bulldozers, scrapers, and excavators created a small, fifteen-kilometer trench, which was then filled with water for dredging to deepen and widen the channel.
To manage this complex project, the Mary Construction and Installation Department was established on-site. The Turkmengidrostroy Construction Trust, the precursor to today’s Garagumderygurluşyk Production Association, began operations in Mary.
The canal’s path required overcoming numerous obstacles, including watercourses, pipelines, and overpasses. Ingenious engineering solutions, such as aqueducts and duckers, were implemented to reconcile these challenges. The canal eventually merged with the Murghab and Tejen rivers, traversing 400 kilometers.
As the Turkmen Iskra newspaper reported, the canal’s grand opening was a momentous occasion. On November 27, 1960, Amudarya water surged through the newly formed channel, joining the Tejen River after fifteen days.
Resist filtering
The canal travelled a challenging 300-kilometer stretch of quicksand. To overcome this, engineers meticulously calculated water loss and predicted groundwater behavior due to filtration. This careful planning allowed for the construction of the canal without concrete lining its bed or banks.
Decades of sedimentation have solidified the main canal’s bottom, eliminating the need for reinforcement. However, smaller channels, intake and distribution points, irrigation collectors, and farm channels have deteriorated. To address this, engineers propose eco-friendly solutions tailored to the region’s soil and climate to minimize water loss. Options include concrete lining for banks, waterproof materials, pipe diversions, and reinforced embankments using cladding, brick, or chemicals. Water conservation at hydraulic structures has been a recurring topic at government meetings focused on water resource management.
Forest plantations for water conservation
Ecological measures are crucial for protecting the Karakum Canal. Planting forest strips along both sides of the riverbed stabilizes the coastal zone and regulates groundwater levels, while allowing for equipment access. Water management workers plant thousands of trees annually, including conifers, deciduous, and fruit varieties, especially mulberries, contributing to Turkmenistan’s National Forest Program.
The Garagumsuwhojalyk Association, a branch of the State Committee of Water Management, oversees the canal’s maintenance, including garbage collection and cleaning. This organization also serves as a planning hub for the canal’s infrastructure.
Such work is carried out all year round, now in summer mode, taking into account weather conditions. The biological method of saving the riverbed from overgrowth with reeds on a long-term basis remains the stocking of the river and reservoirs, as well as channels and collectors. A special structure of the State Committee is engaged in the cultivation of large herbivorous fish – carp, white and black Amur, annually releasing juveniles into the waters of the general irrigation system of the Karakum River.
Modern equipment for water workers
Heavy machinery plays a vital role in maintaining the Karakum Canal. Powerful dredgers, along with earthmoving equipment from Komatsu and Caterpillar, form the backbone of the Garagumderygurluşyk production association’s fleet. As part of a broader modernization effort, the government plans to acquire new multifunctional combine harvesters and cotton harvesters, which will also include machinery for the water industry.
Since 2017, 85 dredgers have been purchased to clear bowls, reservoirs, and riverbed branches. Only during this year eight such units have been put into operation for operating cleaners of bowls and reservoirs, riverbed branches. These machines efficiently remove silt and sediment from the canal bed, depositing it on the shoreline. The cleaned water is returned to the canal, while the sediment contributes to the formation of coastal hills. This dredging process deepens the canal, improving water flow. The canal’s downward slope towards the Caspian Sea facilitates gravity-driven water transport.
To enhance efficiency, hydraulic engineers received 32 excavators and seven bulldozers in 2023.
Monitoring and control
As part of the introduction of digital economy elements into industry development plans, water specialists bring modern water accounting technologies to the monitoring of the water level of the Karakum River.
As part of this initiative, water specialists have installed 70 corrosion-resistant ultrasonic water level sensors along the entire length of the Karakum River. These devices, manufactured in Kyrgyzstan, will provide real-time data on water levels to the State Committee’s central control room.
This advanced monitoring system with ultrasonic sensor will enable more precise water resource management.
This compact device is located above the water on a stationary support bracket, bridge or in the so–called measuring well. The entire system can operate on an established type of communication connection, provide real-time data acquisition, and serve to form a timely picture of the distribution of hydraulic resources in case of floods or water shortages. The accumulated data will allow for an operational comparative analysis of the flow rate of the country’s main freshwater artery.///Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper, 9 August 2024