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The Irtysh–Karaganda Canal (, ''Ertıs-Qarağandy kanaly''; ) is an irrigation canal in
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
. It connects the
Irtysh River The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob and is also the longest tributary in the world. The river's source lies in the Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern part of Xinjiang, China) cl ...
with Karaganda (Qaraghandy), a major industrial center in north-central Kazakhstan. After Kazakhstan's independence, the canal was officially renamed as the Kanysh Satpayev Canal () after the Kazakh geologist Kanysh Satpayev.


Description

The canal starts at , just south of the city of Aksu (formerly Yermak), where it takes water from one of the branches of the Irtysh River. It runs for 451 km in the general western, south-western, and southern direction. It reaches an industrial area on the north-eastern outskirts of Karaganda at ( Kokpekti District), at which point its water apparently goes into an underground pipeline. On its route, the canal passes through numerous reservoirs (the Ekibastuz Reservoir (, about 10 km north of Ekibastuz), as well as other reservoirs at , , etc.). The canal crosses the Nura River at , in what appears to be a tunnel. Some of the canal's water is directed into the Nura (a chute below the dam at ), replenishing this river. As Karaganda is located at a higher elevation than the Irtysh, the canal is furnished with 22 pumping stations, raising the water by 475 m in total.


History

The construction of the canal started in 1962. It was put to use by 1968 and fully completed by 1974. In the early 21st century, a pipeline was built from the canal to the Ishim River, to supply Kazakhstan's capital,
Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...
with water. As of 2013, proposals are floated in Kazakhstan about either extending the Irtysh–Karaganda Canal all the way to the Ishim River upstream of Astana or building a new canal between the Irtysh and Astana. According to a report published in 2013, the canal presently operates at only about one-half of its full capacity.


Notes


External links

* CIrtysh-Karaganda Canals in Kazakhstan Irrigation canals Canals opened in 1968 Canals opened in 1974 {{KaragandaRegion-geo-stub