''Golden Age Lake'', known as Altyn Asyr köli locally, alternatively as Karakum Lake, is a man-made lake under construction in the

Karashor depression The Karashor Depression (known as the "Black salt marsh") is a 120 kilometre long natural bowl in the northwest of Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, border ...

in the

Karakum Desert The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara-Gum ( tk, Garagum, ; rus, Караку́мы, Karakumy, kərɐˈkumɨ), is a desert in Central Asia. Its name in Turkic languages means "black sand": "" means sand; "" is a contraction of : "d ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

. Upon completion, the lake will span with a maximum depth of , and hold more than 130 cubic kilometers (4600 billion cubic feet) of water. Filling the lake could take 15 years and cost up to $4.5 billion.Turkmenistan creates vast lake in the desert
/ref> According to government plans, it is intended to be filled by a network of tributary canals. The 432-kilometre long Dashoguz Collector follows for about half its length the bed of the ancient

Uzboy River The Uzboy (sometimes rendered Uzboj) was a distributary of the Amu Darya which flowed through the northwestern part of the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan until the 17th century, when it abruptly dried up, eliminating the agricultural population t ...

. The Great Turkmen Collector starts in Lebap Province and is long. They are used for pumping run-off water from irrigated cotton fieldsTurkmenistan Vows to Water its Desert
/ref> towards the lake.

Benefits and criticism

According to the Turkmen government, Golden Age Lake will promote the conservation and sensible use of water resources, in addition to preventing damage to archaeological sites near agricultural fields. Further, it is believed the lake will attract migratory fowl, stimulate biodiversity, and make flowers and plants bloom in a country that is 80% desert.Turkmenistan tries to green its desert with manmade lake
/ref> However, critics point out that much of the water pumped into the searing desert will evaporate, adding that it is likely to be contaminated with toxic pesticides and fertilisers. It is also feared that Turkmenistan may seek to siphon water from the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin language, Latin name or Greek ) is a major rive ...

, which runs along the country's northern border with

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

. That could trigger a dispute between the two countries and inflict further damage on the environment.

External References

References

Lakes of Turkmenistan Endorheic lakes of Asia {{turkmenistan-geo-stub