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Amudarya River Basin Morphology
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Amudarya River Basin The Amudarya is the biggest river in Central Asia. Its length from the effluents of Pyandzh river is 2540 km, catchment area is 309 thousands km2 (without taking into account the Zeravshan river catchment). It is called the Amudarya when the Pyandzh river interflows with the Vaksh river. Three large right tributaries (Kafirnigan, Surhandarya and Sherabad) and one left (Kunduz) flow into the Amudarya river within the middle reach. Further up to the Aral Sea it has not any tributary. It is fed largely by water from melted snow, thus maximum discharges are observed in summer and minimum ones in January-February. Such availability of the flow within a year is very favorable to use water of the river for irrigation. While passing the plain, from Kerky to Nukus Amudarya losses the most part of its flow in form of evaporation, infiltration and withdrawal for irrigation. Concerning sediment transport the Amudarya is the first among all rivers in Central Asia and in the top in the world. The main flow of the Amudarya river is originating on the territory of Tajikistan (about 72.8 % - without Zeravshan river). Then, the river flows along the border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, then it flows across Turkmenian territory and again it returns to Uzbekistan, where it discharges into the Aral Sea. About 14.6 % of Amudarya water is formed on the Afghan territory and in Iran. About 8.5% of the Amudarya flow is formed in Uzbekistan. The main specifics of the Amudarya river basin is that the most territories with favorable natural and economic conditions for irrigated farming are located far from the main river and their available water sources are very limited. These are Karshi Steppe, Bukhara region, southern part of Turkmenistan. To provide water delivery for development of those territories there were constructed unique canal systems. The delta zone of the Amudarya lies downstream from Nukus city. It constitutes a slightly sloping plain with many channels. The delta as such is formed by numerous arms (Taldyk, Kazakhdarya, etc.). Its area totals about 7,000 km2. Starting from the mid 1960s the surface flow of the Amudarya stopped reaching the Aral Sea in dry years. As a result of decreased water flow into the delta and retreat of the coastal line of the sea, about 50 water bodies (lakes) have dried up. However, in result of water saving policy during last 8 years, some water releases into a few lake systems as Kungrad, Sudocye, Mezhdurechye, Karadzhar, Togouztour, Daukempir, Kazahdarya, Dautkol and Atpetk, a total of 99,000 ha in the delta zone, have been gradually restored.
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