Caspian Canal Could Upset Natural Balance
Caspian Canal Could Upset Natural Balance
A proposal to build a canal connecting the Caspian with the Black Sea might have economic merits, but it could carry major environmental risks for the wider region.
Speaking at an economic forum in St Petersburg on June 10, Kazak president Nursultan Nazarbaev said the proposed “Eurasian Canal” could carry increase amounts of Central Asian energy resources to world markets. He said the route would significantly reduce transport time and costs, given that it will be 1,000 kilometres shorter than the existing Volga-Don Canal which gives access to the Black Sea and on to the Mediterranean.
According to the project, the 650-kilometre canal will run from the Caspian to the mouth of the river Don on the Black Sea. It should be able to carry 40 million tons of freight a year – three times as much as the Volga-Don Canal, and twice as quickly.
NBCentralAsia analysts say the project is economically viable, but could do irreparable damage to the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea and surrounding regions.
One of these analysts, Eduard Poletaev, says the canal will run through steppe lands with few rivers, so its water will have to be drawn from the Caspian. This could seriously disrupt the sea’s ecosystem,” he said. “This is an enclosed body of water where any intervention will have irrevocable consequences. “The Volga-Don Canal is better from an environmental perspective, although the Eurasian project has the economic advantage.”
Environmentalist Konstantin Gerasimenko says the Eurasian Canal is ecologically unsustainable, despite its obvious economic benefits. He explained that the water level in the Caspian is lower than in the Black Sea, so the canal would need to have numerous locks and substantial pumping systems to make the adjustment. This would be complicated by the periodic fluctuations in the Caspian’s level.
Gerasimenko said it was excessive human intervention in Central Asia’s Aral Sea that led to a huge environmental disaster. Constructing a Caspian canal could similarly have undesirable consequence, he warned.
(NBCA предоставляет комментарии и анализ широкого круга политических обозревателей со всего региона)
Speaking at an economic forum in St Petersburg on June 10, Kazak president Nursultan Nazarbaev said the proposed “Eurasian Canal” could carry increase amounts of Central Asian energy resources to world markets. He said the route would significantly reduce transport time and costs, given that it will be 1,000 kilometres shorter than the existing Volga-Don Canal which gives access to the Black Sea and on to the Mediterranean.
According to the project, the 650-kilometre canal will run from the Caspian to the mouth of the river Don on the Black Sea. It should be able to carry 40 million tons of freight a year – three times as much as the Volga-Don Canal, and twice as quickly.
NBCentralAsia analysts say the project is economically viable, but could do irreparable damage to the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea and surrounding regions.
One of these analysts, Eduard Poletaev, says the canal will run through steppe lands with few rivers, so its water will have to be drawn from the Caspian. This could seriously disrupt the sea’s ecosystem,” he said. “This is an enclosed body of water where any intervention will have irrevocable consequences. “The Volga-Don Canal is better from an environmental perspective, although the Eurasian project has the economic advantage.”
Environmentalist Konstantin Gerasimenko says the Eurasian Canal is ecologically unsustainable, despite its obvious economic benefits. He explained that the water level in the Caspian is lower than in the Black Sea, so the canal would need to have numerous locks and substantial pumping systems to make the adjustment. This would be complicated by the periodic fluctuations in the Caspian’s level.
Gerasimenko said it was excessive human intervention in Central Asia’s Aral Sea that led to a huge environmental disaster. Constructing a Caspian canal could similarly have undesirable consequence, he warned.
(NBCA предоставляет комментарии и анализ широкого круга политических обозревателей со всего региона)
