TURKMEN GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONS THE FIRST STAGE OF THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000877 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN; EEB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EINV EAGR TX SUBJECT: TURKMEN GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONS THE FIRST STAGE OF THE NOTORIOUS TURKMEN LAKE PROJECT REF: 08 ASHGABAT 0694 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: On July 15 the President will commission a 2,600 kilometer drainage canal built in the Karakum desert designed to collect agricultural irrigation runoff. The commission of the canal will mark the first phase of the government's twenty year project to create a man-made lake in the desert named "Turkmen Lake of the Golden Century". The government views the project as the solution for lowering the underground water table and improving crop field conditions, and is making ambitious plans to increase agricultural production by using waste water to irrigate new lands. International experts, however, have expressed concerns over the impact of the lake and argue that there are other more practical and ecologically safer ways to solve the country's water problems. It is difficult to assess why this project has continued forward, but may be connected to senior government level corruption. The alternative hypothesis is that government technical experts are afraid to tell senior officials it's a bad idea. END SUMMARY. ¶3. (U) At the July 3 cabinet meeting, Deputy Chairman for Agriculture and Water Myratgeldy Akmamedov reported on the completion of the first stage of the Turkmen Lake project: a 2,600 kilometer drainage canal that will collect runoff water from the country's agricultural zones and send it to Garashor Depression in northwestern Turkmenistan. President Berdimuhamedov will inaugurate the canal in an official ceremony on July 15. The second phase of the project calls for the reuse of the lake's water, once it is filled, to increase crop production and livestock breeding. INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS CONCERNED ¶4. (SBU) This controversial plan has triggered fears that the lake will have long-term ecological implications throughout Central Asia. The Turkmen Government has argued that building the lake will facilitate reuse of runoff, and at the same time, somehow improve regional water quality. International experts expressed serious concern that the lake will reduce the volume of the Amu Darya River. Critics of the project doubt that runoff water alone will be sufficient to fill the lake, and worry that additional water will be diverted from the Amu Darya River. A local water specialist informally confirmed to the post economic assistant that there was not enough runoff water to send to the lake. He said that the topography and layout of local farms does not promote water drainage and much is lost through evaporation from irrigated fields. Additionally, both international and local experts agree that the project will give only temporary relief to a rising underground water table. Instead of investing millions of dollars in the controversial project, they suggested that the government switch to modern, water-saving irrigation techniques and construct a new lining in the aging Karakum Canal, which experts claim loses as much as 50 percent of the water it transports through seepage. GOVERNMENT DOWNPLAYS THE CONCERN ¶5. (SBU) In a recent government meeting, President Berdimuhamedov instructed the government "to engage specialists and scholars to conduct a comprehensive information campaign to explain the importance of the man-made Karakum Lake for the successful socio-economic development of Turkmenistan, preservation and enhancement of its natural resources." Following the president's directive, official newspapers published a series of press articles that described the lake project as a critically important water saving project that will improve farm fields by lowering the underground water table. The articles claimed that the Turkmen Lake, once it is filled, will act as a strategic water reserve for the country's agricultural needs. National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna Director ASHGABAT 00000877 002 OF 002 Paltamed Esenov wrote that the plan was to demineralize the runoff water by using local halophytes (salt marsh plants) planted crosswise in the outlets of the drainage canals. Responding to the concern of international experts, Esenov emphasized that the project did not envisage drawing any water from the Amu Darya River. Ministry of Water Resources official Guvanch Hanmedov wrote that the lake will "reduce water logging and other land degradation". ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: This project, which many observers believed would die with former President Niyazov, seems destined to move forward--albeit slowly--in spite of the expense and illogic. The reason could be that Turkmen Lake construction is providing significant financial kickbacks to someone in senior government through corrupt contract practices. Alternatively, it could be that senior decision makers firmly believe in the utility of the project, and government technical experts fear speaking truth to power. END COMMENT.