Turkmenistan, The Qaraqum Canal

The Qaraqum Canal in Turkmenistan is one of the largest irrigation and water supply canals in the world. Started in 1954, and completed in 1988, it is navigable over much of its 1,375-kilometers length, and carries 13 cubic kilometres of water annually from the Amu-Darya River across the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. The canal opened up huge new tracts of land to agriculture, especially to cotton monoculture, and supplying Ashgabat with a major source of water. But also The canal is a major factor leading to the Aral Sea environmental disaster.