There are times when the best course of action to distribute or stop the flow of water seems to be to divert a river or stream. Just imagine how large a task it would be to divert a river the size of the Mississippi and the environmental impact it would have on the surrounding areas. It is almost unthinkable, isn't it? Yet in Russia they were thinking and debating the diversion of Siberian rivers that flow in a Northerly direction. A huge task that would also have environmental consequences but would bring water to the Kyzylkum desert in Central Asia, causing it to become fertile. This idea met much opposition by environmentalists when it became common knowledge after glasnost and was cancelled. Today it is being looked at again.

There is another fly in the ointment for the Russians. A nuclear watchdog team says that some of the rivers are radioactive. See story at (http://www.rferl.org/features/2000/11/03112000062505.asp). The Russians deny these findings which refer to the rivers in the eastern provence of Siberia. See story at (http://www.rferl.org/features/2000/11/06112000133730.asp). Nuclear tests were carried out with the purpose of creating canals and diverting rivers by using hydrogen bombs. (http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2001/0103-06.htm)

Two major Siberian Rivers are the Tom and the Ob. They flow through the Tomsk Oblast. The Tomsk Oblast region is unique. One of its major problems are falling rocket stages from the launch area at Baikanur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This area already has many environmental concerns before even thinking of shifting the waters. It has poor drinking water, the Tom River is polluted, forestry conservation is not practiced when cutting down trees, the city of Tomsk is starting to experience air pollution, and there may be problems with nuclear materials at Sevesk, a closed city.

Picture Source NASA
Left: Ob River
Right: Mouth of Ob River

Russia is certainly not the only country that is thinking of diverting or has diverted major rivers. The Aswan Dam was created in Egypt to hold back the waters of the Nile from overflowing their banks. It was a huge project, and actually the second Aswan Dam. The dam is so huge that it created the largest man made lake, named Lake Nassar. The dam contains 18 times the amount of material that was used in the building of the great pyramid. It is 11,811 feet long, 3215 feet thick at the base and 364 feet tall. Egypt claims that the dam created 30% more cultivatable land and raised the water table for the Sarah and it doubled the countries electric supply. Critics state that the dam shouldn't have been built because it was too expensive, and when the flooding was stopped, no more silt was deposited on the land and now expensive fertilizer has to be used on the land. They also say that the fish ate the silt and the people further down river depended on the fish.

Picture Source: NASA
Lake Nassar the largest man made lake

The Anclote and Pithlachascotee Rivers empty into the Gulf of Mexico. Florida has launched a project to lower the banks of the river thus diverting pure water into the surrounding wetlands. This will also have the effect of increasing the drinking water in the area. A system of retractable gates has also been proposed. The project would also contribute to flood control in the area. No one knows yet what effect this will have on the marine life in the Gulf where some marine life depend on fresh water flowing there.

Picture Source: U.S. Army
Pithlachascotee Rivers

As you can see diverting rivers may have some benefits but it also has its down sides. Nature, the master engineer, usually knows what it is doing. Sometimes diverting rivers has more than environmental consequences. Take the Aswan Dam for instance. Many treasures were lost under the waters of the the dam. Who knows what undiscovered artifacts may have changed the way we currently think about our ancestors? As for the environment, it is truly hard to tell what impact may be made by altering a river. It is almost like time travel where you might do something when you travel to the past, no matter how slight, that would affect the future. Before any project is undertaken its effects should be studied and it must be determined if the benefits outweigh the risks.