Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, July 28
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
A unique hydrotechnical facility called lake “Altyn Asyr” in the center of the Karakum Desert is being created, the “Neutral Turkmenistan” newspaper reported.
According to the article “facility’s significance is truly invaluable not only for Turkmenistan, but for the whole Central Asian region”.
The lake is located in the natural hollow called Karashor, the length of which is 103 and the width – 18 kilometers respectively. The volume of the whole water basin will make up 132 billion cubic meters.
“After appropriate demineralization these waters may be used for various purposes. This is much cheaper than the desalination of the Caspian Sea waters” states the article.
It was previously reported that the first phase of the project was commissioned in 2009.
Turkmen scientists believe that the creation of a big artificial reservoir in Karakum will improve the melioration state of irrigated areas, increase agricultural productivity and prevent soil salinization.