Lake Balkhash ( ; ) is a
lake in southeastern Kazakhstan
,presently the largest in Central Asia (after the drying of most of
Aral
Sea
).This assumes that the Caspian Sea
(371,000 km2 surface area) and Lake Baikal
(31,494 km2 surface area), both of which
are larger, are not in Central Asia. It is a closed basin that is part of the endorheic basin that includes the Caspian and Aral
seas
.
Map of the Lake Balkhash drainage basin
|
History
From as
early as 103 BC up until the 8th century,
the Balkhash polity was known to the Chinese
as
Pu-Ku/Bu-Ku. From the 8th century on, the land to the
south of the lake, between it and the Tian Shan
mountains, was known as "Seven Rivers"
(Jetisu in Turkic,
Semirechye
in Russian). It was a land where the
nomadic
Turks and
Mongols of the steppe mingled cultures with the
settled peoples of Central Asia.
During China's Qing Dynasty
(1644 - 1911), the lake formed the
northwestern-most boundary of the Empire. In 1864, the lake and
its neighbouring area was ceded to Imperial Russia
through the Sino-Russian Treaty. With the dissolution
of the Soviet
Union
in 1991, the lake became part of Kazakhstan.
Characteristics
The lake currently covers , but, like the Aral Sea, it is shrinking
because of the diversion of water from the rivers that feed it. The
lake has a mean depth of , and a maximum of . The western half of
the lake is
fresh water, while the
eastern half is
saline. The mean depth
of the eastern part is 1.7 times that of the western.
Approximately to the
northeast lies Lake
Baikal, the largest lake on Earth by volume.
The
Balkhash inland basin drains into Lake Balkhash via seven rivers;
chief among these is the Ili River
, which brings the majority of the riparian inflow, others such as the Karatal provide both surface and subsurface
flow. The Ili is fed from precipitation (largely vernal snowmelt) from the mountains of China's Xinjiang region. The Balkhash basin is
itself endorheic there is no outflow and Balkhash suffers from the
same problems as other endorheic lakes.
Economic development
The
waters of the Ili
River and of Lake Balkhash are of vital economic
importance to Kazakhstan. The Ili is dammed for hydroelectric power at Kapchagay
, and the river waters are heavily diverted for
agricultural irrigation and for industrial purposes. Balkhash itself serves
as a vital
fishery.
Environmental and political problems
200 px
the population and degree of industrialisation in western China
increase, it is likely that conflict between China and Kazakhstan
over the fate of the limited waters of the Ili will intensify.
Similar international disputes over water use in the arid region
led to the desiccation of the Aral Sea, and Balkhash appears to be
following a similar path.
The water
pollution of Balkhash is
intensified as urbanisation and industrialisation in the area grow
rapidly.
Extinctions of species in the
lake due to its decreasing area, as well as
overfishing activities, are cause for alarm
among conservationist organisations worldwide.
External links
See also
Islands in Lake Balkhash
References