Kulunda Magistral Canal
The Kulunda Magistral Canal ( Russian Кулундинский магистральный канал / Kulundinski magistralny kanal) is an irrigation canal in the Altai region ( Russia ).
course
The canal begins above the town of Kamen am Ob on the Ob River and runs for 182 kilometers in a south-westerly direction through the Kulunda steppe. 25 m³ / s of water are pumped by two pumping stations from Ob, which is 113 m high here, to the level of the canal at almost 140 m .
The 20 to 30 meter wide and 2 to 3 meter deep canal runs through several agricultural rajons in the Altai region: Kamen am Ob, Tyumenzewo , Bajewo , Blagoweschenka and Rodino .
On canal bridges, it crosses the Kulunda and Kutschuk rivers, along with smaller watercourses . The channel is on the railway line Barnaul - Kulunda - Pavlodar crossed. For a large part of its course it is accompanied by an asphalt road.
history
The Kulunda Magistral Canal was designed in the early 1970s to irrigate drought-stricken agricultural areas in the west of the region, near the border with Kazakhstan . These areas around Novotroitsk (Rodino district) and Slatopolje (Kulunda district) should cover 20,000 hectares; in addition, 18,500 hectares of arable land and 45,000 hectares of pasture in the eastern areas touched by the canal. Construction began in August 1973, the first section was put into operation in 1977, and construction ceased in November 1983 when the area around Rodino was reached. The 120 kilometers remaining after the project were not built.
At the present time, much smaller areas are being irrigated by the canal than originally planned. In addition, the canal grows over, swamped and, in places, caused a rise in the groundwater level up to and including the flooding of inhabited areas due to poor sealing. There are plans to reconstruct the canal.