ECOLOGICAL CRISIS IN THE ARAL SEA BASIN: RATIONAL WATER USE AS A TOOL TO COMBAT LAND DEGRADATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Authors: Rakhimov Olim Hamitovich and Tomás S. Cuesta
Rakhimov Olim Hamitovich: Finance Bukhara State Pedagogical Institute, Bukhara State University, Uzbekistan.
Tomás S. Cuesta: Agricultural and Forestry Engineering Department, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
ABSTRACT
This study examines the escalating ecological crisis in the Aral Sea basin and the urgent need to transition from traditional surface furrow irrigation to modern localized water systems. For decades, extensive furrow irrigation has dominated the region, demonstrating extreme resource intensity and colossal inefficiency. This historically established method has led to massive water losses through deep percolation, provoking artificial rises in groundwater levels and resulting in severe secondary soil salinization. Employing a comparative analysis of empirical data collected between 2016–2018 (traditional irrigation) and 2019–2021 (drip irrigation), the study evaluates agricultural productivity and economic viability using the IPAB cost-to-income ratio. The study concludes that improving irrigation efficiency is no longer an exclusively agrarian task aimed at profit generation. Rather, widespread rationalization of water use is a critical, non-alternative tool for conserving melting water resources, halting soil degradation, and restoring the destroyed ecosystem of the Aral Sea region amidst the severe threats of global climate change.
Keywords: Aral Sea basin; drip irrigation; water use efficiency; soil salinization; sustainable irrigation management; cotton production; climate change adaptation; land degradation.