The Aral Sea Encyclopedia - I,J

I Ichthyofauna of the Aral Sea – ichthyofauna is made up of the Asian mountain, Ponto-Caspian, Turkenstan, and other fauna complexes. Up until the 1960s, I.A.S.comprised20fishspeciesbelongingto7families.Themostabundantwas the carp family, which included 12 species (bream, common carp, sea roach, Chalcalburnus, Aral and Turkestan barbell, asp, white-eye, sichel, rudd, ide, and crucian carp). This family made up 60% of the whole ichthyofauna. The next most abundant was of the perch family living in lakes, including the pike perch, perch, ruff; the sturgeons (bastard sturgeon); salmons (Aral salmon); catfish; pikes (pike); and sticklebacks (stickleback) were each represented by 1 species. Due to insufficient population, newly introduced species had no commercial significance; however, they influenced the biological regime of the Aral. Among the invaders, only the plant-eating fish had some commercial significance. In the 1980s, the main commercial fish were bream, common carp, searoach,pikeperch,barbell,asp,Chalcalburnus,catfishandothers.Bytheend of 2002, only 2 fish species survived – flatfish and Aterina – and only in the western part of the Large Aral Sea. At present (2008), I.A.S. has disappeared (except for in the Small Aral Sea), the main cause of this outcome having been the increasing water salinity. Ide(Leuciscusidus.)–commercialfishofthecarpfamily(Cyprinidae).Itslength reached 70 cm, andits weight was 6to 8 kg. In A.S., a subspecies, the Turkestan ide, was found. This fish usually lived in small plain rivers, in lakes, and in reservoirs. It reached fertility at the age of 4–6 years when its length was 25 cm and more. Spawning was in April–May in floodplains, and at times in bars at water depth 0.5–0.7 m and temperatures of 3–48C and higher. Fertility was 39–114 thou eggs. It fed on insect larvae, small mollusks, worms, algae, and higher vegetation. It was not inclined to long-distance migration: Spending winter in rivers, in spring it ran to small tributaries and floodplain lakes for spawning. After flood recession, it returned to the rivers. Information about the Aral Sea and lower Amudarya from the ancient times unitl the 17th century – one of the principal geographical works of the outstanding Russian Oriental specialist V.V. Bartold (see) publishedin 1902by the Turkestan Branch of the Russian Geographical Society in the series, ‘‘Scientific results of I.S. Zonn et al., The Aral Sea Encyclopedia, DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-85088-5_10, 117 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 118 I Institute of socio-economic problems of the circum-Aral Area the Aral expedition’’ (issue 2) (see). Being involved in integrated studies of A.S., V.V. Bartold critically examined numerous written sources, many of which had been made available to scientists for the first time. He succeeded in proving that historical sources decisively observedthat from the13thto the16th century,the Amudarya flowed into the Caspian Sea. Such conclusions were made in spite of the prevailing opinion of geologists and geographers. More recent investiga-tions, in particular of S.P. Tolstov, confirmed, in general, the data contained in the historical sources given by Bartold, with some reservations concerning the period and volume offlow along theUzboichannel, however.This work stirred great interest – in 1910, it was published in German and later in English. This work was highly praised by L.S. Berg (see). Institute of socio-economic problems of the circum-Aral Area, Karakalpak Branch of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences – established in 2000 on the basis of the Computer Center. The Institute contends with the regional socio-economic problems of the Circum-Aral area and econometric modeling. Today, the Institute comprises the following divisions: the division on modeling socio-economic processes, the division on the study of production forces, the division on population and social problems, and the division on environmental problems. The Institute is a member of the International Society for Ecological Eco-nomics (ISEE), is included in the Bureau on the Coordination of Economic Studies of Eastern Europe (Germany), and maintains contacts with the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College (USA) and others. Since its founding, the Institute has implemented research projects relevant for the region. In recent years, completed projects have included: the advance-ment of the concept of sustainable development in the Circum-Aral area; the elaboration of a program on socio-economic development for the Circum-Aral area from 2000 to 2010 (using materials from the Republic of Karakalpakstan); the implementation of economic instruments for regional sustainable develop-ment; the application of econometric methods in the study of demographic processes; and the development of mathematical modeling of climate responses to changing ecosystems in the Southern Circum-Aral area. Within the framework of the Institute, the scientific workshop, ‘‘Problems in the Sustainable Development of the Circum-Aral Area,’’ functions. Integrated hydrometeorological atlases of the Caspian and Aral Seas – prepared and published by the Research Institute of Aeroclimatology in Leningrad in 1963, and edited by V.S. Samoilenko. The Atlases comprise maps of atmo-spheric pressure, resultant winds and their stability, solar heat flux, effective radiation, radiation balance, and wave height; maps of contact heat exchange, evaporation, and heat fluxes; maps of water and air temperature, recurrence of air temperature, atmospheric events and visibility; maps of cloudiness, quantity and intensity of precipitations, and recurrence of clear and gray skies, mists, and precipitations; maps of visibility and recurrence of weather conditions; maps of an average rate of wind and mixed waves and recurrence Interstate Coordination Water Commission (ICWC) I 119 of swell waves; maps of dominating winds; and maps of absolute humidity for estimating components of the radiation balance. Integrated Institute of Natural Sciences of the Karaklpakstan Branch of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences – located in Nukus. Interstate Coordination Water Commission (ICWC) – established in 1992 under the Agreement among the Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan on cooperation in joint management and protec-tion of interstatewater resources.ICWCis acollectiveparitybody of the Central Asian states, acting on the basis of equality, justice, and consensus of opinions. Pursuant to the Resolutions of the heads of Central Asian states on March 26, 1993 and April 9, 1999, ICWC and its divisions were included into the Interna-tional Fund for Saving the Aral Sea and acquired the status of international organizations. The ICWC executive bodies are Basin Water Management Asso-ciations (BVO) ‘‘Amudarya’’ and ‘‘Syrdarya’’ and the Scientific-Information Center (SIC). ICWC and its executive bodies ensure strict observance of water release regimes and water consumption limits, implementation of efforts on rational and wise management of water resources, sanitary water flushes along river channelsandirrigationsystems,andsupplyofguaranteedquantitiesofwaterto the Circum-Aral area and A.S. for improvement of the environmental situation and maintenance of the water quality level in accordance with the agreements. The decisions taken by ICWC concerning observance of the assigned water intake limits and rational management and protection of water resources are binding for all water users. At its meetings, ICWC approves the annuallimits of water intake from interstate water sources (classified by vegetative and inter-vegetative periods) for member countries with regard to the predicted water management situation and the assigned water releases to A.S.; considers and makes decisions on correction of water intake limits from the actual situation (BVO ‘‘Amudarya’’ and ‘‘Syrdarya’’ are permitted operative corrections of water intake volumes within 10%); annually mandates the program of BVO activities and finances the operational and other costs. The decisions made by ICWC concerning regulation, utilization, and protection of water resources are binding for all water users regardless of their state or departmental affiliation and forms of property. One of the clauses of this Agreement imposes on ICWC the power to define the water management policy in the region, elaborate its directions with regard to the needs of all economic sectors, integrate and rationally manage water resources, and develop a prospective program of water supply for the region and act on its implementation. Among its other functions, the ICWC also develops and approves yearly water consumption limits for each state and the region, matching, in general, the regimes of reservoir operation and their correction on the basis of verified forecasts depending on the actual water availability and the established water management situation. 120 I International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) The ICWC structure includes the Secretariat, Scientific-Information Center, Coordination Metrological Center, and BVOs ‘‘Amudarya’’ and ‘‘Syrdarya’’. International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) – one of the largest nongovernmental organizations, it was established on the initiative of the Indian Government in 1950 in Simla, India as the International Commission on Irrigation and Canals. At the 1st Congress on Irrigation that was held in New-Delhi (India) in 1951, the Commission acquired its present name – ICID. At this meeting, the ICID Statutes were adopted to define its purposes and tasks. The Statutes defined ICID’s purpose as to comprehensively assist the development and application of achievements in science and technology to irrigation, drainage, flood control, and riverbed regulation in technical, eco-nomic, and social disciplines. The scope of the issues addressed by the Commis-sion included all problems related to the planning and financing of efforts on land reclamation, flood control, riverbed regulation and design, and construc-tion and operation of respective engineering structures. Later, the scope of issues was extended to include the study and analysis of all factors contributing to successful irrigated farming development. Within the first 50 years of its existence, the ICID membership increased from 11to87countries(2000).TheSovietUnion joined ICID in1955.Afterthe disintegration of the USSR, ICID was joined by Uzbekistan (1996) and Tajiki-stan (1997). ICID’s highest management body was the International Executive Council, comprised of the president, 9 vice presidents, and the general secretary (selected for a term of 3 years), and representatives of its national committees. In 1972, at the 8th ICID Congress Ye.Ye. Alekseevsky, the USSR Minister of Land Reclamation and Water Management, was elected the ICID President. The ICID Executive Council performed its activities via several committees, and the ICID Secretariat was located in New-Delhi (India). The meetings of the Council were convened every year. The 26th Meeting of the ICID Executive Council was held in Moscow (USSR) in 1975 within the framework of the 9th Congress on Irrigation and Drainage. In 2004, Moscow hostedthe55thMeetingoftheExecutiveCouncil.TheEuropeanandAfro-Asian Conferences were also organized. On the USSR’s initiative, in 1976 Tashkent became the venue of the Afro-Asian Conference on Irrigation and Drainage. The tasks formulated in the ICID Statutes included improvement of the exchange of scientific-technical information among the national committees; the convening of international congresses, symposia, and ad-hoc sessions; organization of joint researches and experiments; publication of congress transactions, papers, world reviews, and other materials; and the promotion of cooperation with other international organizations. For the 55 years of its activities, the ICID organized 19 congresses to discuss the most burning issues on irrigation and drainage. The issues for discussion at the coming congresses were selected taking into consideration the interests of a host country and also the significance of the problem for the majority of the ICID member countries. International cooperation on the Aral Sea problems I 121 Thefirst publicationof ICIDwas thereview, ‘‘Irrigation andDrainage inthe World –AGlobal Review,’’ which was re-publishedthreetimes(1969, 1981 and 1983). All in all, ICID issued more than 90 publications, including special issues, world reviews on relevant issues, guidelines, memorial publications, and technical memoirs. A large contribution of ICID in the development and unification of terminology in irrigation and drainage was publication in 1967 of the ‘‘Multilanguage Technical Dictionary on Irrigation and Drainage,’’ which contained over 10 thousand terms and definitions. In 1996, an enlarged and revised edition of this Dictionary was circulated. The Dictionary was translated and published in 14 languages, including Russian. In addition, ICID published aBibliography (from 1954 – annually),Newsletters (from 1986), monthlyNews Updates (from 1993), andthe ICID Bulletin (from 1952). In 1997, ICID opened its Internet-site. International cooperation on the Aral Sea problems – large-scale cooperation began in 1993–1994 after the breakdown of the Soviet Union when the difficult period of reforms and alienation from financial sources, material resources, etc. made the young independent states of Central Asia dependent on international aid for addressing such serious and complicated problems as the Aral Sea problem, water resources management in the A.S. basin, and others. One of the first proposals to the world community with a view to raise financial resources for addressing the Circum-Aral problems was submission to the World Bank in 1992–1993 of the ‘‘Aral Sea Basin Program.’’ In it, SANIIRI (see) and other co-authors of this program included ideas that had been devel-oped by scientists for nearly the entire preceeding decade. In early 1994, this program was presented to the Summit Meeting of the Central Asian countries, which approved it in the form of 8 items (see PBAM). In the same year, these items were submitted to the donors’ meeting, at which they were approved as a first-stage endeavor and US 40 mln was conferred for their implementation. From this time, scientists and designers have actively cooperated with foreign consultants and financial organizations, reflecting the growth of ideas and methodological approaches proposed by Central Asian research organizations. The main projects adopted for implementation related primarily to water resources management, agriculture improvement, environment protection, and, to a less extent, health improvement. Many UN organizations (UN University, UNDP, UNESCO, UNEP, UNIDO, FAO, WMO, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the International Labor Organization); financial organizations (World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Monetary Fund, Global Environment Facility); European Union Programs (TACIS, INTAS, INCO-Copernicus, OSCE, TEMPUS); international nongovernmental orga-nizations (‘‘Doctors Without Borders’’); regional organizations (International Fund for Saving of the Aral Sea, Interstate Coordination Water Commission, Commission on Sustainable Development, Central Asian Economic Commu-nity); and bilateral organizations (US Agency for International Development, ... - tailieumienphi.vn