Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, July 31 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed at a working meeting that the large-scale project on creating "Altyn Asyr" lake in the desert is extremely important for Turkmenistan and the whole Central Asia, national TV channel Altyn Asyr said today.
"The President also urged to maintain the construction pace of the facilities of the second stage of the Turkmen Lake "Altyn Asyr", designed to improve the condition of irrigated lands and solve many problems related to salinity, waterlogging and drought," the information said.
Turkmen scholars are studying combating desertification, particularly in connection with the "Altyn Asyr" project in the Karakum Desert. It aims to improve the environmental situation in Central Asia.
At present, the construction of "Altyn Asyr" in the Karakum Desert is recognized as the most large-scale national program. The exploitation of this facility will save the ecosystem of the Amu Darya River, prevent flooding of desert pastures, improve reclamation state of irrigated land, create additional water resources for the further development of agriculture.
The scholars raised the issues of scientifically sound development of these lands by using slightly saline water and cultivating agricultural and forage crops.
According to the project, the total capacity of receiving waters "Altyn Asyr" will be 132 billion cubic meters and the area - about 2,000 square kilometers.
According to local experts, the water flowing into "Altyn Asyr" from vast fields of the country, will not damage the water sources having regional importance.
Turkmenistan decided to use rational utilization of water resources used in the initial stage.
Ashgabat thinks that the basin of the lake is a unique example of maximal use of water.