What happened to the Aral? In the 1950s, ambitious Soviet

planners embarked on a massive water program designed to make

the desert bloom. Engineers redirected much of the river flow that

fed the sea, diverting the water to a massive complex of agricultural

fields. The Soviets succeeded in their crusade; Central Asia became

a booming marketplace—particularly for cotton. But this economic

conquest had a severe ecological cost. In just a few decades, the

water diversions left the Aral in ruins. Cut off from its freshwater

feeder streams, the sea began shrinking. A generation later, the dis-

astrous ecological effects of this grand plan have left thousands of

Central Asians in shock. In less than half a century, water levels in

the Aral have fallen by eighty vertical feet. The sea has lost 75 per-

cent of its surface area and 90 percent of its volume.

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The farmer’s

gain was the fisherman’s loss—jobs dried up with the water, leaving

chronic unemployment and social paralysis. The climate is different

too. Like the North American Great Lakes, the old Aral moderated

temperature extremes near the shoreline. Now Muynak’s summers

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T h e   G r e a t   L a k e s   Wa t e r   Wa r s

Photo 2.3. This rusting vessel is one of roughly a dozen that remain in

Muynak’s ship graveyard. (Photo by Peter Annin)