The Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal (Chinese:引额济克(乌)工程; pinyin:Yǐn-É-jì-Kè (Wū) gōngchéng; lit.'Irtysh River Diversion to Karamay (Ürümqi) Project'), also known as the Project 635 (Chinese:635工程; pinyin:635 gōngchéng; lit.'Project 635')[1] Canal, is a system of water-transfer canals and reservoirs in the northern part of China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. It transfers water from the Irtysh River (which flows toward the Arctic Ocean) into several dry endorheic basins of north-central Xinjiang, where it is used for irrigation and general use of the population and industries.
The canal is often referred in Chinese publications simply the "Project for Supplying Water From the Irtysh" ("引额供水"工程).[2]
According to Chinese planners, the water carried by the canal will eventually irrigate 140,000 hectares of land.[1] An important user of the canal's water is the petroleum industry around Karamay.[1]
History
The ideas for redirecting some of the waters of the Irtysh for irrigation use in the (Soviet) Central Asia was actively discussed in the USSR in the mid-20th century. However, the bulk of the Soviet Northern river reversal project was never implemented; only a fairly minor Irtysh–Karaganda Canal was constructed in central Kazakhstan. The upper course of the Irtysh, is, however, in China, and it was the Chinese authorities who, in the 1990s, embarked on a large-scale project for the use of some of the waters of that river in the Chinese part of Central Asia, i.e. Xinjiang. The project was approved by all the relevant authorities by 2000,[3] and construction work started soon thereafter. The water reached Karamay by 2008.[citation needed]
From the three trunk canals' junction point, the West Trunk Canal running in the general southwestern direction, skirting the northwestern edge of the Dzungarian Basin along the foothills of the mountains that form the basin's border.
There are several tunnels along the canal's route, including the Dingshan Tunnel (Chinese:顶山隧洞), which is 7,415 m long.[9]
More water for the canal
The Project 635 reservoir is required not only to supply the Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal with water, but also to maintain a sufficient amount of water flow in the Irtysh below the dam, for the local agricultural use and ecosystem maintenance. To improve the water balance at the reservoir, the local authorities are envisioning the so-called Project for Bringing Western Water to the East (西水东引工程). The project would involve the construction of a canal whereby water could be transferred from the Burqin Shankou Reservoir on the Burqin River to the Project 635 reservoir on the Irtysh.[3][10] Even though the Burqin is a tributary of the Irtysh, its natural confluence point with the Irtysh is in Burqin Town (the county seat of Burqin County), which is over 100 km downstream from the Project 635 Dam, and in the absence of the "Bringing Western Water to the East" canal its waters would not be available at the Project 635 location.[citation needed]
↑ 额河建管局工程建设和科技发展情况 (Overview of the construction and scientific development projects of the Irtysh Development and Construction Authority), 2010-08-05, by Irtysh Basin Development and Construction Authority (额尔齐斯河流域开发建设管理局)
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