Chapter 1 Short History of Water in Central Asia

Still from a propaganda film documenting the construction of the Big Fergana Canal. The canal was constructed in 1939 constructed over a period of 45 days and a length of approx. 280 kilometers. Source: Youtube

This Chapter provides a short introduction to the region of how man has tamed and allocated the Central Asian water resources. It draws on texts from an emerging field of the study of colonial times in the region and how the Zarist and Russian conquests effectuated dramatic changes in the use and allocation of water resources. These changes, however, as is becoming more and more clear thanks to recent research, were built on top of a system of traditions, some of which were developed over the course of centuries, and neither able to complete replace them nor root them out. The clash of tradition with modernity continues to this day and is the cause of renewed attention of governments and the international community alike as environmental degradation directly linked to the ineffective and unustainable use of water grows in extent.