"Turning of the Siberian Rivers": description of the project, objectives and goals

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

“Turn of the Siberian rivers to Central Asia”, “Palace of Soviets”, “Manned flight to Mars”… All these are large-scale and absurd in their grandeur projects of the USSR, which were never implemented. But were they so utopian? In this article, we will analyze in detail the Soviet project "Turn of the Siberian Rivers". Who, when and why conceived this global adventure?

Changes in river channels

A channel is called a low, narrow and elongated landform, along which water and other solid sediments flow. River channels can change their shape and direction. Moreover, both naturally (as a result of lateral or bottom erosion), and as a result of anthropogenic impact.

Man is quite actively modifying the pattern of the natural hydrographic network on our planet. This happens through the construction of irrigation and drainage canals, the transfer of part of the flow to another river. There is also the practice of channel straighteningin certain sections of the watercourse (especially in densely populated and industrial regions). Indirectly, changes in the contours of river channels are affected by massive deforestation, as well as the creation of large reservoirs.

The first artificial canals appeared as early as the 6th millennium BC. e. in Mesopotamia. At the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia, ancient Egypt had already created a widely branched network of irrigation canals, the state of which was directly monitored by the supreme power.

In the Soviet Union, the mass construction of hydraulic structures began in the post-war period, as part of the "Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature." So, in the period from 1945 to 1965, a whole network of main canals with a total length of over 2 thousand kilometers was created in the USSR. The largest among them were:

• Karakum Canal (1445 km).
• North Crimean Canal (405 km).
• The White Sea-B altic Canal (227 km).
• Moscow Canal (128 km).

Great Transformation of Nature

Long before the idea of turning the Siberian rivers into the USSR, the so-called Great Plan for the transformation of nature was adopted in the late 40s. It was developed on the initiative of Joseph Stalin himself, therefore, it also went down in history under the name "Stalin". The main reason for its adoption was the massive famine of 1946-1947.

The main goal of this plan was to prevent droughts, dry winds and dust storms by building reservoirs and planting forest protection plantations. First of all, this concerned the southern regions of the great Land of Soviets - the Volga region, Ukraine, Western Kazakhstan. As part ofThe program provided for the planting of forest belts with a total length of 5300 kilometers. Many of them, despite the gradual degradation, perform their direct functions today.

In addition to planting windbreaks, several hydrological initiatives were included in the plan. In particular, two resolutions of the USSR Council of Ministers of 1950:

1. “On the transition to a new irrigation system in order to make better use of irrigated lands.”
2. "On the construction of the Main Turkmen Canal Amu Darya - Krasnovodsk".

"Turning of the Siberian Rivers": a brief about the project

The idea of transferring northern Siberian waters to more arid southern regions first arose at the end of the 19th century. However, the Academy of Sciences of the Russian Empire immediately rejected it, so there were no further discussions on this matter. The idea was revived again under the Soviet regime.

The object of attention of Soviet scientists was the full-flowing river Ob. Through the creation of a huge artificial canal, it was planned to redirect its waters to the arid regions of the Central Asian republics. How it should have looked, see the map below. Taking into account the features of the relief, the water would have to rise up with the help of several powerful pumps.

Environmentalists immediately became concerned, declaring the possible catastrophic consequences of turning Siberian rivers. Indeed, in terms of the scale of intervention in nature, there have never been analogues to this project in history. Anyway,approved in 1984, the grandiose idea remained on paper. And two years later, the project was completely canceled completely and irrevocably. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was constantly remembered, but it never went beyond words.

Project history

"Nature is unfair!" lamented the Soviet dreamers-idealists of the 1960s. “Look at the map of our Motherland,” they demanded. - How many rivers carry their waters into the dead space of the Arctic Ocean. They carry them to uselessly turn them into ice! At the same time, in the vast deserts of the southern republics, the need for fresh water is extremely great. Enthusiasts firmly believed that a person is quite capable of coping with the mistakes and shortcomings of nature.

The Ukrainian publicist Yakov Demchenko was thinking about turning the Siberian rivers to the south back in 1868. In 1948, the well-known geographer Vladimir Obruchev wrote to Stalin about the same idea. But Joseph Vissarionovich was not interested in her. This issue was taken seriously only in the mid-60s, when the cost of water supply in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan hit the Soviet treasury noticeably.

In 1968, the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU instructed the Academy of Sciences, the State Planning Commission and a number of other organizations to develop in detail a plan for turning the Siberian rivers and inter-basin transfer of water in order to regulate the regimes of the Caspian and Aral Seas.

Criticism of the project

What was the danger of the turn of the Siberian rivers? The photo below shows a map of the North Crimean Canal, a large-scale irrigation and watering system launched in 1971year for water supply of arid territories of Crimea and Kherson region. At its core, this is a similar project. After the launch of the North Crimean Canal, as you know, nothing terrible happened.

Nevertheless, a number of environmentalists sounded the alarm in connection with the new plans of the Soviet government. After all, the scale of the projects was incomparable. So, according to academician Alexei Yablokov, the reversal of the Siberian rivers will lead to a number of adverse consequences:

• A sharp rise in groundwater along the entire length of the future canal.
• Flooding of settlements and communication routes adjacent to the canal.
• Flooding large areas of agricultural and forest land.
• Increasing salinity in the Arctic Ocean.
• Significant regional climate change.
• Changes in the thickness and regime of permafrost of an unpredictable nature.
• Violation of the species composition of fauna and flora in the areas immediately adjacent to the canal.
• Death of certain commercial fish species in the Ob basin.

Goals and objectives of the project

The main purpose of the turn of the Siberian rivers was to redirect the flow of the river system of the Ob and Irtysh to the southern regions of the USSR. The project was developed by specialists from the Ministry of Water Resources. To transfer water to the Aral Sea, it was planned to create a whole system of canals and reservoirs.

There were three key tasks for this project:

1. Pumping fresh water to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to irrigate local farmland.
2. Water supply for small towns and settlements in the Chelyabinsk, Omsk and Kurgan regions of Russia.
3. Implementation of the possibility of navigation along the Kara Sea-Caspian Sea water route.

Project work

In general, employees of more than 150 different organizations worked on the development of a detailed plan for turning the Siberian rivers to the south. Among them: 112 research institutes, 48 design and survey services, 32 union ministries, as well as ministries of nine union republics.

The work on the project lasted almost twenty years. During this time, ten thick albums of drawings and maps were created, five dozen volumes with various textual materials were prepared. The total estimate of the project, according to the calculations of the State Planning Committee of the USSR, was estimated at 32.8 billion Soviet rubles. And it was a huge amount at the time! Meanwhile, it was assumed that the allocated money would pay off in seven years.

In 1976, the first field work began. And they continued for almost ten years. But in 1986, immediately after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, all activities to implement the project were stopped. It is not entirely clear what exactly was the decisive reason for the abandonment of this grandiose plan: an acute shortage of funds or fear of unpredictable consequences. Do not forget that it was in April 1986 that the Chernobyl disaster happened, which could also leave its weighty imprint on the decision of the authorities on this issue.

Unrealized plans

In the general structure of the project, twoconsecutive stages:

• Stage one: construction of the Siberia-Central Asia canal.
• Stage two: implementation of the Anti-Irtysh program.

The planned navigable canal "Siberia - Central Asia" was to become a water corridor connecting the Ob River basin with the Aral Sea. Here are the parameters of this failed channel:

• Length - 2550 km.
• Depth - 15 meters.
• Width - from 130 to 300 meters.
• Capacity - 1150 m3/s.

What was the essence of the second stage of the project called "Anti-Irtysh"? It was planned to change the course of the Irtysh (the largest tributary of the Ob), directing its waters back along the Turgai trough in the direction of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the key water arteries of Central Asia. To do this, it was necessary to create a hydroelectric complex, build ten pumping stations and one reservoir.

Project prospects

The idea of turning the Siberian rivers was repeatedly returned after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In particular, it was lobbied by the leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and, unexpectedly, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov. The latter even wrote a book called "Water and Peace". Presenting it in Astana in 2009, he spoke out in support of a possible project to divert Siberian waters to Central Asia. By the way, theoretically, this could solve the problem of the rapidly drying Aral Sea, the contours of which are narrowing every year.

In 2010, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev turned to Dmitry Medvedev with the initiativereconsider the possibility of implementing the global Soviet project. Here is his direct quote: "In the future, Dmitry Anatolyevich, this problem may turn out to be very big, necessary to provide drinking water to the entire Central Asian region." The then President of the Russian Federation replied that Russia was always ready to discuss various options for solving the drought problem, including some old ideas.

It is worth noting that modern estimates of the cost of such a project with all the necessary infrastructure amounted to about 40 billion dollars.

Turns of the Rivers: other projects

It is curious that the Soviet Union was not the only one in the plans and attempts to change the hydrographic network of their country. So, a similar project was developed in the United States around the same years. It was called the Central Arizona Canal. The main goal of the undertaking was also to supply water to the southern states of the United States. The project was actively worked on in the 60s, but then abandoned.

Suffering from lack of water resources and China. In particular, the northeastern regions of the country. In this regard, Chinese scientists have developed the largest plan in the history of mankind to transfer part of the flow of the Yangtze River to the north. And we have already begun to implement it. By 2050, the Chinese must build three canals 300 kilometers long each. Whether they will be able to bring their plan to life, time will tell.

In conclusion

"The turn of the Siberian rivers" has become one of the most high-profile Soviet projects. Much to my regret (or to great happiness), heand has not been implemented. Who knows, maybe it’s really not worth getting into the affairs of mother nature so seriously? After all, it is not known what consequences this grand undertaking could lead to.