Irtysh – Karamay – Urumqi Canal

The Irtysh–Karamay Canal, "Irtysh River Diversion to Karamay (Ürümqi) Project"), also known as the Project 635, is a system of water-transfer canals and reservoirs in the northern part of China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. It transfers water from the Irtysh River into several dry endorrheic basins of north-central Xinjiang, where it is used for irrigation and general use of the population and industries.[10]

The canal is often referred in Chinese publications simply the "Project for Supplying Water From the Irtysh. [11]

According to Chinese planners, the water carried by the canal will eventually irrigate 140,000 hectares of land. An important user of the canal's water is the petroleum industry around Karamay.[11]

The 134 km long Main Trunk Canal of the Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi system starts at the Project 635 Dam on the upper Irtysh, in Fuhai (Burultokay) County of Altay Prefecture. The Main Trunk Canal runs in the general southern and southwestern direction, toward the Ulungur River. A significant amount of irrigated agriculture has been developed downhill (i.e., northwest) of the canal in many areas.

The Main Trunk Canal crosses the Ulungur River and it is divided into two branches: the West Trunk Canal running toward Karamay, and the East Trunk Canal running toward Ürümqi.

From the three trunk canals' junction point, the West Trunk Canal running in the general southwestern direction, skirting the northwestern edge of the along the foothills of the Dzungarian Basin along the mountains that form the basin's border.

The West Trunk of the Irtysh–Karamay Canal crosses the Baiyang River, upstream of Urho District's main urban area. A provision is made for letting some water flow from the canal into the Baiyang River, thus improving the water supply situation in Urho District, and maintaining the stable water level in the Ailik Lake into which the Baiyang River flows.[12]

On reaching downtown Karamay, the 8.5-km-long section of the canal, known the Karamay River or the City River becomes the centerpiece of the city's main park.[13] The canal apparently ends in Aykula (Aikule) Reservoir just south of downtown Karamay.

Several other reservoirs have been constructed along the route of the canal, including:

· Fengcheng Reservoir north of Urho

· one in Baijiantan District

· Sanping Reservoir in Karamay

From the three trunk canals' junction, the more recently constructed 420-km-long East Trunk Canal almost immediately goes into a long tunnel. After leaving the tunnel, it runs in the general southern direction across the almost uninhabited Gurbantünggüt Desert. It reaches the Tian Shanpiedmont belt of human habitation at Daquan Ranch in Fukang County-level city at around. Via branch canals, the East Trunk Canal supplies water to a number of reservoirs in Fukang County-level city, terminating in the large reservoir known as "Reservoir 500" on the border of Fukang County-level city and Ürümqi's subruban Midong District. A new industrial area, called Ganquanbao Industrial Parl or Industrial New City 500 is being developed west of the reservoir, relying on it for water supply.[14][15]

West of Reservoir 500, a network of canals serves a large area of Midong District; in particular, a major canal runs to a small reservoir.

There are also several tunnels along the canal's route, including the Dingshan Tunnel is 7,415 m long.[16]

The Project 635 reservoir is required not only to supply the Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal with water, but also to maintain a sufficient amount of water flow in the Irtysh below the dam, for the local agricultural use and ecosystem maintenance. To improve the water balance at the reservoir, the local authorities are envisioning the so-called Project for Bringing Western Water to the East..[17]

For today, according to the official data, the volume of water by China to the the canal Black Irtysh – Karamay makes 68 cubes a second. In the next years as the Russian and Kazakhstan experts counted, this volume will increase 5 times. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) where the river originates, roughly develops. Here oil, gas, coal, copper are extracted. Crops of grain and cotton are expanding. SUAR population – 20 million people. The plan of the leadership of China is to move here about 60 -100 million people. It isn't necessary to be the expert to predict consequences. The country will use water resources as it is favorable to it, to its economy, to the population.

Besides construction of the channel, "Project 635" assumes construction of dams and several hydraulic engineering constructions (GTS) on Irtysh, including hydroelectric power station. In particular, in 2009 in Karamay construction of the oil storage, largest in the region, began, and also the reservoir around Altai is constructed to branch the river Kyran, which is the one of largest inflows of Irtysh..

The specified projects, obviously, will even more increase water intake from Irtysh. In the territory of China the 9th cube of km of water a year is formed on average. Now the People's Republic of China takes away water in volume to 1,5 cube of km a year. Considering the capacity of the Irtysh-Karamay channel, the Chinese authorities intend to take away in the long term about 4,5-5 cube of km of water annually that makes about 50% of the general drain of the river

The Kazakhstan experts predict that if China will take away not 50%, and at least 30% of the general drain of the river annually, it will lead to the large-scale environmental disaster in the territory of Kazakhstan and Russia. At the same time, according to official figures, today for provoding production in the oil field developed near the city of Karamay, the Chinese party carries out an intake 0,8 cube of km (about 15%) of water a year.

Results of the Kazakhstan researches show that the planned large-scale intake of waters from the cross-border Irtysh River with a high probability will cause the following negative consequences for Kazakhstan:

- violation of natural water balance and natural balance in a zone Zaisan;

- deterioration of an epidemiological and ecological situation in these regions, degradation of climate, increase in natural concentration in water of harmful substances that will make it almost unsuitable for economic and household consumption;

- decrease in power generation by the Irtysh cascade of hydroelectric power station: to 25% by 2030 and to 40% – by 2050;

- the termination of navigation on Irtysh by 2020;

- degradation of inundated meadows on Irtysh, decrease in level of the Bukhtarminsky reservoir and its separation from the Lake Zaisan;

- a problem aggravation with water supply of coastal villages and cities and decrease in productivity of crops.

The objective is twofold: first, to irrigate 140,000 new hectares of agricultural fields; and, second, to transport water to the Karamai oil fields, situated about 400 kilometers from Urumqi, with confirmed reserves of 1.7 billion tonnes of oil The canal reached completion in 1999. Currently, it diverts around 500 million cubic meters of water per year, but the figure should reach more than a billion cubic meters when it reaches its operating capacity in 2020. In October 2004, the Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan, Pei Shouxiao, recognized the project's incredible significance, and affirmed that his country was counting on using as much as 40 percent of the Irtysh's effluence.[20]

Picture 1. Irtysh-Karamay canal

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16