1.1.1.WATER RESOURCES The river runoff originating in the country is estimated at 1.0km³/year. Several rivers are found in Turkmenistan, most of them flowing into the country from its neighbours. The largest and most important waterway in Turkmenistan is the Kara Kum canal. This canal was constructed in the 1950s and is, at 1300km, the longest canal in the world. The canal capacity is estimated at 630m³/s. Its inlet at the Amu Darya River is located just after the river enters Turkmenistan from Uzbekistan. It brings water to Ashkhabad and to the oases in the south. There are five major sources of water resources in Turkmenistan: •the main trans-boundary rivers (the Amu Darya, Atrek, Murgab, and Tedjen); •the small rivers of the north-western slope of the Kopetdag mountain range; •freshwater aquifers; •return and drainage waters from irrigation; •some small natural lakes. Water management infrastructure includes the Kara Kum canal, artificial reservoirs and lakes, irrigation mains/canals, collector-drainage network, artificial drainage lakes and the Altyn Asyr artificial lake. The renewable groundwater resources are estimated at 3.36km³/year, of which about 3km³/year is estimated to be infiltration from rivers, including surface water resources generated in upstream countries. In 1994, the existing equipment enabled a groundwater abstraction of 1.22km³/year. The total internal renewable water resources are thus estimated at 1.36km³/year, and the total actual renewable water resources at 24.72km³/year. The volume of treated industrial and domestic wastewater is estimated at 0.025km³/year. For the period 1990-94, agricultural drainage water was estimated at about 5.4km³/year on average. Water from both sources is mixed in the collector-drainage canals. About 2.35km³/year, or 44 per cent of the total, returns to rivers, mainly the Amu Darya River. About 2.97km³/year, or 55 per cent, goes to natural depressions, mainly Lake Sarakamysh in the north of the country on the border with Uzbekistan. The remainder, about 0.08km³/year (1 per cent), is directly re-used for irrigation.

1.1.2.WATER USE In 1994, the total annual water withdrawal was estimated at 23.8km³, of which 97 per cent was used for agricultural purposes. Recently, there has been a slight fall in the total water withdrawal, mainly because of the adoption of water-saving methods in agriculture. The main source of water is surface water. Drainage water from irrigated land is also re-used and constitutes another source of water for irrigation. In 1994, 214 million m³ of groundwater was used for domestic purposes, 151 million m³ for agriculture and 36 million m³ for industry. Turkmenistan’s water sector supports not only the irrigation needs of agriculture but also the requirements of other sectors of the economy. Irrigation canals and reservoirs are the sources of water for municipal, domestic and drinking water supply in rural areas; they also secure watering levels for pastures. Other water uses are also supported, including commercial fisheries, energy generation, transport, recreation and sport fishing, navigation and landscaping within residential areas.

1.2.WATER QUALITY, ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN HEALTH Major environmental problems are contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals and pesticides; salination; water logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; desertification. Diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contributes to that river’s inability to replenish the Aral Sea.