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Vakhsh (river)
The Vakhsh (/ˈvækʃ/ VAKSH; Tajik and Russian: Вахш), also known as the Surkhob (Tajik: Сурхоб) in north-central Tajikistan and as the Kyzyl-Suu (Kyrgyz: Кызыл-Суу) in Kyrgyzstan, is a Central Asian river and one of the main rivers of Tajikistan. It is a tributary of the Amu Darya river.
The Vakhsh flows through the Pamirs, passing through very mountainous territory that frequently restricts its flow to narrow channels within deep gorges. Some of the largest glaciers in Tajikistan, including the Fedchenko and Abramov glaciers (the former being the longest glacier in the world outside of the polar regions), drain into the Vakhsh. Its largest tributaries are the Muksu and the Obikhingou; the Vakhsh proper begins at the confluence of the Obikhingou and Surkhob rivers.
After it exits the Pamirs, the Vakhsh passes through the fertile lowlands of southwest Tajikistan. It ends when it flows into the Panj to form the Amu Darya, at the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve, which was the last habitat of the now-extinct Caspian tiger in the former USSR, is located at the confluence of the Vakhsh and the Panj.
The catchment area of the Vakhsh is 39,100 km2, of which 31,200 km2 (79.8%) lies within Tajikistan. The river contributes about 25% of the total flow of the Amu Darya, its parent river. Its average discharge is 538 m3/s, with an annual discharge of 20.0 km3. However, since the Vakhsh is fed mostly by melting snow and glaciers, these flow rates have great seasonal variability between winter and summer. Measurements at the Nurek Dam indicate that winter flow rates average around 150 m3/s, whereas flow rates during the summer months can exceed 1500 m3/s – a tenfold increase.
The Vakhsh has been intensively developed for human use. Electricity, aluminum, and cotton are the mainstays of Tajikistan's economy, and the Vakhsh is involved with all three of these sectors. Hydroelectricity provides 91% of the country's electricity as of 2005, and 90% of that total comes from the five completed dams along the Vakhsh, dominated by the world's second tallest dam, the Nurek. The other four dams, downstream of Nurek, are Baipaza, Sangtuda 1, Sangtuda 2 and Golovnaya Dams. (These dams make Tajikistan the highest hydroelectric power producer per capita in the world.) Hydroelectricity powers the aluminum production at the Tajik Aluminum Company in Tursunzoda, a major source of Tajikistan's industrial output and export revenue. As for cotton, Vakhsh water irrigates much of Tajikistan's crop; about 85% of the water taken from the Vakhsh goes toward irrigation.
The leaders of the Soviet Union stressed the importance of developing the country's under-developed regions, such as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (which was the predecessor to modern-day, independent Tajikistan). Not only did Vladimir Lenin’s ideology identify the decentralization of industry as a way to counter the colonial exploitation of indigenous peoples, but the USSR had strategic aims as well, especially in World War II when industry was evacuated eastward away from the German front. This industrialization would be fueled by exploiting Tajikistan's enormous hydropower potential.
It took until the 1950s, however, for dam construction to begin on the Vakhsh. The Perepadnaya power station, was the first to be commissioned in 1959. It is situated on a canal off the Golovnaya Dam which was commissioned in 1963. The giant Nurek dam was constructed between 1961 and 1980. Baipaza Dam was completed in 1983.
To build transmission lines over the Pamirs would have been prohibitively expensive, so, in order to take advantage of the electricity produced by these dams, the Soviet Union built many industries nearby. The Tajik Aluminum Company plant is a prime example. Other industries established locally were chemical plants, nitrogen fertilizer factories, and cotton gins.
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Vakhsh (river)
The Vakhsh (/ˈvækʃ/ VAKSH; Tajik and Russian: Вахш), also known as the Surkhob (Tajik: Сурхоб) in north-central Tajikistan and as the Kyzyl-Suu (Kyrgyz: Кызыл-Суу) in Kyrgyzstan, is a Central Asian river and one of the main rivers of Tajikistan. It is a tributary of the Amu Darya river.
The Vakhsh flows through the Pamirs, passing through very mountainous territory that frequently restricts its flow to narrow channels within deep gorges. Some of the largest glaciers in Tajikistan, including the Fedchenko and Abramov glaciers (the former being the longest glacier in the world outside of the polar regions), drain into the Vakhsh. Its largest tributaries are the Muksu and the Obikhingou; the Vakhsh proper begins at the confluence of the Obikhingou and Surkhob rivers.
After it exits the Pamirs, the Vakhsh passes through the fertile lowlands of southwest Tajikistan. It ends when it flows into the Panj to form the Amu Darya, at the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve, which was the last habitat of the now-extinct Caspian tiger in the former USSR, is located at the confluence of the Vakhsh and the Panj.
The catchment area of the Vakhsh is 39,100 km2, of which 31,200 km2 (79.8%) lies within Tajikistan. The river contributes about 25% of the total flow of the Amu Darya, its parent river. Its average discharge is 538 m3/s, with an annual discharge of 20.0 km3. However, since the Vakhsh is fed mostly by melting snow and glaciers, these flow rates have great seasonal variability between winter and summer. Measurements at the Nurek Dam indicate that winter flow rates average around 150 m3/s, whereas flow rates during the summer months can exceed 1500 m3/s – a tenfold increase.
The Vakhsh has been intensively developed for human use. Electricity, aluminum, and cotton are the mainstays of Tajikistan's economy, and the Vakhsh is involved with all three of these sectors. Hydroelectricity provides 91% of the country's electricity as of 2005, and 90% of that total comes from the five completed dams along the Vakhsh, dominated by the world's second tallest dam, the Nurek. The other four dams, downstream of Nurek, are Baipaza, Sangtuda 1, Sangtuda 2 and Golovnaya Dams. (These dams make Tajikistan the highest hydroelectric power producer per capita in the world.) Hydroelectricity powers the aluminum production at the Tajik Aluminum Company in Tursunzoda, a major source of Tajikistan's industrial output and export revenue. As for cotton, Vakhsh water irrigates much of Tajikistan's crop; about 85% of the water taken from the Vakhsh goes toward irrigation.
The leaders of the Soviet Union stressed the importance of developing the country's under-developed regions, such as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (which was the predecessor to modern-day, independent Tajikistan). Not only did Vladimir Lenin’s ideology identify the decentralization of industry as a way to counter the colonial exploitation of indigenous peoples, but the USSR had strategic aims as well, especially in World War II when industry was evacuated eastward away from the German front. This industrialization would be fueled by exploiting Tajikistan's enormous hydropower potential.
It took until the 1950s, however, for dam construction to begin on the Vakhsh. The Perepadnaya power station, was the first to be commissioned in 1959. It is situated on a canal off the Golovnaya Dam which was commissioned in 1963. The giant Nurek dam was constructed between 1961 and 1980. Baipaza Dam was completed in 1983.
To build transmission lines over the Pamirs would have been prohibitively expensive, so, in order to take advantage of the electricity produced by these dams, the Soviet Union built many industries nearby. The Tajik Aluminum Company plant is a prime example. Other industries established locally were chemical plants, nitrogen fertilizer factories, and cotton gins.