Tajikistan's Melting Mountains

Continued melting of Tajikistan’s mountain glaciers could lead to major natural disasters and a reduction of water flowing into Central Asia’s rivers. Experts warn countries in the region have to start building dams near glaciers now and changing their own irrigation systems.



On June 5, at a conference in Dushanbe dedicated to world environment day, a report was presented indicating that the area of glacier and snow coverage in Tajikistan is shrinking rapidly.



The Fedchenko glacier - the world’s longest outside the polar regions - has got 30 per cent smaller in the last 50 years. The glacier is located at over 6,000 metres in the Pamir Mountains and feeds water to the Amu Darya, Vakhsh and Yakhsu.



Scientists have observed a stable rise in temperature of between 0.5 and 0.8 degrees above 2,000 metres and 0.5 degrees at 3,500 metres.



Experts warn that intensive melting of the glaciers will lead to an increase of natural disasters in the short term and to a reduction in river water volumes in the long run. Preparations should be made now at a regional level to deal with these problems, they say.



Anvar Hamidov, an expert with the Agency for Hydrometeorology in Tajikistan, argues that dams should be built close to glaciers to prevent destructive mudslides caused by increasing flows of snow-melt water into the rivers.



“We could build large and small reservoirs, which would not only serve as water capture points to help plan for the distribution of water resources in future, but would also prevent disastrous mudslides,” said Hamidov.



He added that without constantly monitoring the state of the glaciers, it is impossible to plan and regulate the use of cross-border water resources.



Glacier melt calls for fundamental changes to Central Asia’s irrigation systems, since the water flow in the Amu Darya is expected to fall by seven to ten per cent in the next 50 years and this will mean a sharp reduction in the availability of water for irrigation purposes.



Timur Idrisov, head of the environmental group For the Earth, says that assuming temperatures continue to rise at the same pace, all small and medium-sized glaciers will disappear in 50 to 100 years.



According to Tajikistan’s hydrometeorology centre of Tajikistan, there are currently 8,492 glaciers in the country, occupying over six per cent of the country’s territory and feeding the major tributaries of the largest river in Central Asia, the Amu Darya.



“In the long term, the flow of water drain will decline, resulting in a shortage of water not only in Tajikistan but in the region as a whole,” said Idrisov.



The experts hope that with proper cooperation and research into the problem of glacier degradation, countries in the region will not only be able to avert the worst consequences of glacier melt and prepare for a painless shift to reducing the area under irrigation, but also to preserve most of the glaciers.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)