Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences plan to study the possibility of diverting the Ob River to Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
This issue was recently discussed at a scientific council meeting. The research involves making decisions on strategic planning of Russia's water resources.
However, there is no urgent need to implement this initiative immediately, as first and foremost, Russia's own territorial water supply issues must be resolved. According to Academician Robert Nigmatulin of the Academy of Sciences, water scarcity in Central Asia is increasing.
This situation exacerbates drought and leads to a decline in crop yields. He proposed utilizing 20-70 cubic kilometers of the annual flow from Siberian rivers.
This amount corresponds to a small portion of the total water volume, as the annual flow of the rivers is approximately 3000 cubic kilometers. According to Nigmatulin, this project could alleviate the water scarcity problem in Central Asia while also improving the ecological balance in the Arctic.
Scientists suggest diverting water from the Ob River to the Aral Sea region near the Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan border, as well as supplying water from the Pechora and Northern Dvina rivers to the Volga and Priazovye regions. The water transfer is planned to be carried out not through open canals but using polymer pipelines.
This could deliver about 5.5 billion cubic meters of water to the region annually. If necessary, there is also a provision to increase the capacity of the pipelines.
It is worth noting that during the Soviet Union, there were also plans to divert Siberian rivers towards the Aral Sea. However, this project was halted due to potential negative impacts on the environment and the lives of local populations.
