Lessons on cooperation building to manage water conflicts in the Aral Sea Basin; Technical documents in hydrology: pc-cp series; Vol.: 11; 2003

2.6. Technical Aspects of Future Development 
Technical aspects of future water development relate to two major aspects. The first is 
the creation of ecological sustainable and economically sound systems in the deltas of 
the two rivers and the remaining body of the Aral Sea. The aim should be to stop 
environmental degradation, compensate for the damage to natural productivity 
caused by the artificially created system on the Aral Sea coast, and prevent social and 
environmental losses that affect the population living near the Aral Sea coast. The 
second concern is to increase of regulation of the flow of both rivers so as to improve 
WM and WO capacities in the interest of irrigation, power production, and the 
environment. 
The unexpected rate at which the Aral Sea shrunk meant the loss of the water it 
had produced and required the governments of five NIS to decide starkly and frankly: 
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What is the future of the lake? “The Concept of Social and Environment Development 
of ASB,” accepted by the heads of the states in 1994, announced openly that it was 
impossible to protect the Aral Sea itself, but aimed to create a set of water resources 
and wetlands along the populated part of the Aral Sea shore, which would make it 
possible to protect nature and stabilize the socio-ecological situation in the deltas. 
Now this task focuses on two zones. In North Priaralye the decision, financed by 
IBRD’s so-called “North Sea” plan, is to create reservoirs in the area of the Small Aral 
Sea in the north with a capacity of 25 km
3
of water; there will also be stabilizing 
measures in the Syr-Darya wetlands and deltas. The southern parts of Priaralye 
should improve their profile with the creation of wetlands and lakes; the most 
important of these are Mejdurechye and Sudochie, and for these two projects NATO 
and GEF are to organize protection and partial rehabilitation of the Amu-Darya delta.