Tuzkansee

Tuzkansee Tuzkon
Recording from 1985; Looking south: Tuzkansee with Nuratau mountains on the top left, Aydarsee on the right, in front Syrdarja valley , Schardara reservoir and Arnasay lakes
Geographical location	Desert Kyzyl Kum in Uzbekistan
Tributaries	derived amounts of water from the Syrdarya , Kyly , sewage collectors from the Golodnaya steppe
Drain	drainless ( pelvic position )
Location close to the shore	Jizzax , Uchkulach
Data
Coordinates	40 ° 33 '  N , 67 ° 29'  E Coordinates: 40 ° 33 '  N , 67 ° 29'  E
Altitude above sea level	originally up to 237 m, today up to 247 m (2011)
surface	originally approx. 30 km², today up to 705 km² (2011)
length	35 km
width	20 km
Maximum depth	40 m
particularities	lake enlarged by overflow

The Tuzkansee (Uzbek Tuzkon , Cyrillic Тузкан ) is a former outflowless lake in Uzbekistan in southeastern Kyzylkum . The lake is located in the Jizzax province and is part of the approximately 4,000 km² Aydar-Arnasay lake system .

prehistory

Until the middle of the 20th century, the lake, which grew to a maximum height of 237 m, was only fed by the river Kyly in spring to melt snow , so that it regularly evaporated again in summer. In contrast to all other lakes in the area, which were created only from sewage collectors from the Golodnaya steppe and through human intervention, the Tuzkan lake has a natural origin.

Development in modern times

Map of the area from 1954; the Tuzkansee as a drainless saltwater lake

Rise in lake level: October 1, 1969 (239.4 m), September 26, 1993 (238.8 m), February 1, 1994 (approx. 241 m), September 29, 1994 (241.6 m)

In the early 1960s, the Syr Darya was dammed and the Schardara dam was built just beyond the border with Kazakhstan , which was provided with an emergency overflow into the lowlands of Arnasay in order to be able to control floods. In 1969 this had to be opened in the course of a flood disaster, because the capacity of the dam was not suitable for controlling the water masses. From February 1969 to February 1970 almost 60 percent of the average annual runoff of the Syr Darya (22 km³) was diverted from the Shardara Reservoir into the Arnasay Lowland and thus also reached the Tuzkan Lake, which grew considerably as a result. Since these uncontrolled water inflows negatively changed the ecological system of the lake through devastating floods and subsequent drying out, a weir was built in 1980 at the junction between Tuzkan and Aydar lakes to regulate the inflow into the Tuzkan lake.

The snowmelt in the winter of 1992/1993 caused the lake to rise by about two meters within a month, the next snowmelt in the spring of 1994 by a further three meters to 242 m; In this year the land bridge between the Tuzkansee and the Aydarsee and with it the built weir was completely flooded, so that the lake has since formed a part of the Aydarsee that can no longer be clearly defined.

Geography and bathymetry

The lake is bounded in the east by the Golodnaja steppe (Uzbek Mirzachoʻl ) and connects in the north to the former Aydar salt pan, the current Aydar lake. It is roughly triangular in shape; the western, eastern and northern banks are flat, hills and swampy sections alternate. As the lake has grown, the southern bank has moved right up to the up to 557 m high, grass-covered Pistalitaukamm, a foothill of the Nuratauberge , and has a mountainous character.

The area is approx. 705 km², the depth should be between 20 and 40 meters. Due to the flooding of the separating land bridge, the water level of the lake always corresponds to that of the Aydarsee and changes throughout the year. The average water temperature is 0.2 ° in January, 13.2 ° in April, 27.5 ° in July and 16.4 ° in October. The salt content of the water is between 4.0 and 4.9 g / l, about twice that of the rest of Lake Aydar; this can be explained by the greater influx of saline wastewater in the north-east; however, a modest fishery has developed.

natural reserve

In addition to the fauna typical of the Kyzylkum, there are various water birds that migrate from the Aral Sea in the course of the formation of the Aydar Sea. The lake area is included in the Ramsar list as an important bird area, it is located at the intersection of the Afro-Eurasian and Central Asian trajectories and is a center for the migration and wintering of waterfowl with more than 100 species, provides habitat for threatened species like the white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala), the Sociable Lapwing (Chettusia gregaria), the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), the red-breasted goose (Rufibrenta ruficollis), the Zwerggans (Anser erytropus) and Pallas's Fish Eagle (Haliaetus leucoryphus), providing an important source of food and a spawning ground for different Fish species. The most important forms of vegetation are the reed belts, salt herbs and tamarisk trees used by the locals . An action plan to maintain the stability of ecological conditions, 2008–2015, is in place.

Atomic energy

The governments of Uzbekistan and Russia declared their cooperation in the field of nuclear energy in December 2017 ; On July 10, 2018, the conclusion of an agreement to build two nuclear power plant units with an output of 1200 MW each for $ 11 billion was announced.

From August 2018 to March 2019, one of four potential locations west of Lake Tuzkan in the Farisch District was identified as the most suitable for the construction of a new Uzbek nuclear power plant. On May 17, 2019, a contract for a development concept was signed with the nuclear power export energy department of the Russian state-owned company Rosatom ; a site license is planned for autumn 2020.

In July 2019, the plans were finalized by Minister Sultanov , instead of two, four units of the Russian type VVER-1200 were to be built. The commissioning of the first two reactors is planned for 2028 and 2030.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A. Ryabtsev, M. Yeliseev: Report 3 Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (Pre-EIA) (Book 1). In: Syrdarya Control and Northern Aral Sea, Phase-2 (SYNAS-2) Feasibility Study. Republic of Kazakhstan Ministry of Environment and Water Resources Committee for Water Resources, 2014, pp. 26-27 , accessed on March 23, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Wahyuni ​​S., Oishi S., Sunada K., Toderich KN, NE Gorelkin: Analysis of water-level fluctuations in Aydarkul-Arnasay-Tuzkan Lake System and its impacts on the surrounding groundwater level. In: Annual Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Vol. 53. Japan Society of Civil Engineers, February 2009, accessed September 6, 2017 . 
3. ^ The List of Wetlands of International Importance. The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland, September 13, 2017, accessed on October 6, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Uzbekistan plans to start nuclear power | Nuclear Forum Switzerland. Retrieved August 13, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Kun uz: Experts estimate compatibility of the NPP site in Jizzakh with IAEA requirements. Retrieved September 13, 2019 . 
6. ↑ UzDaily: Site selected for construction of nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan. Accessed August 13, 2019 . 
7. ↑ Uzbekistan looking for a location | Nuclear Forum Switzerland. Retrieved August 13, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Uzbekistan's first nuclear power plant is to get two additional reactors. In: Novastan German. July 18, 2019, accessed on August 13, 2019 (German). 
9. ^ Uzbekistan adds second plant to nuclear power goal - World Nuclear News. Accessed August 13, 2019 .