THE ARAL SEA CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CURRENT STATE OF WATER BODIES AND HIGHER AQUATIC VEGETATION

Abstract

The lowering of the Aral Sea level, which began in the 1960s of the last century, due to the water withdrawal from the Amu Darya river for irrigation of agricultural lands in the Aral Sea region, led to the world's largest environmental crisis. The ecological disaster affected the entire region, and first of all, the hydrographic network of the Amu Darya delta. This was especially evident in the coastal water bodies, which are located along the southern coast of the sea and sea bays of the former coast of the Aral Sea.Due to the shortage of water resources in the Aral Sea region, the watering of natural reservoirs in the Amu Darya delta has sharply decreased, which has led to a reduction in fishing grounds. Currently, there are only about 10 lakes formed as a result of waste and collector-drainage waters, and the share of natural lakes is only about 5 thousand hectares and they are also fed by waste waters [1]. Due to the unstable hydrological regime, the state of water bodies in the delta zone of the Amu Darya River has changed significantly at the present time. First of all, the hydrological regime deterioration led to an increase in the salinity of many lakes, the disappearance of a large number of aquatic plants and a decrease in the fish species composition. This article provides an analysis of the current state of water bodies, higher aquatic plants and recommended measures to restore ecological stability