Yesterday, the blog Window on Eurasia linked to a Russian-language article reporting that Stalin wanted to drain the Caspian Sea, the better to exploit the offshore oil reserves of Azerbaijan. That the waters, particularly of the Volga, would be diverted to Central Asia to irrigate the Kazakhstani steppes was a bonus from Stalin's position.
Obviously, this massive and environmentally calamitous geoengineering program did not come to pass. Even so, I wonder if there is a possibility that something like it could have happened, or at least started to happen: Look at what happened to the Aral Sea, sacrificed on the altar of all-Soviet economic achievements. (Then again, the Caspian is an international sea with Iran also having coastline. Then again, wouldn't Stalin's Soviet Union be willing to threaten Iran?) Completely draining the Caspian may be impossible, but substantially reducing its surface area may be imaginable, if you can find ways to redivert the rivers. Shifting the Volga to Kazakhstan may be impossible, for instance, but perhaps the Volga could be made to drain out via the Don, for instance. The northern third is particularly shallow, Wikipedia suggesting it has an average depth of five or six metres.
Given the political will, if the Volga and the Ural and other rivers were redirected, to Central Asia or elsewhere, I think it entirely possible to do serious damage to the Caspian. That considerable benefit might be provided by a well-watered Kazakhstan would make the task of fixing the Caspian Sea under any post-Stalinist regime politically difficult.
Thoughts?
In 1952, Stalin decided to intensify oil production in the Caspian. For this purpose, the leader came up with the Caspian Sea. Absolutely. Under the plan, the oxen of the Volga had to leave for North Kazakhstan. The Terek River would be diverted to the steppes of Kalmykia, and Kura would become dizzy. The Caspian Sea was then rescued by hydrologists, who explained to Stalin that even after doing all this, there would not be enough pumps to pump out atmospheric precipitation from the bottom of the reservoir.
Under the Soviet regime, many projects with a huge scope were conceived, which, if implemented, would lead to large-scale changes in nature and climate. Well-known plans for the turn of Siberian rivers to the south for the development of agriculture in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. But in 1952 an even more global project was considered - draining the bottom of the Caspian Sea with the goal of more convenient oil production.
Nikolai Baibakov, the then Minister of the Oil Industry of the USSR, mentioned this project in passing in the 1990s, and in 2016 in the published memoirs of the head of the KGB Ivan Serov a detailed story appeared about Stalin's plans ("Ivan Serov: Notes from a suitcase", publishing house "Enlightenment" ", 2016).
[. . .]
In 1949, the first in the USSR oil well in the open sea was drilled in the Caspian Sea 40 km from the shore. So began the creation of a city on steel piles, called "Oil Rocks". However, the construction of overpasses, which extend for many kilometers from the coast, was very expensive. In addition, their construction is possible only in shallow water. The Caspian was then the main territory of oil production in the USSR (the fields of Western Siberia had not yet been discovered). The question arose how to intensify oil production there. So, in 1952, the plan for the dehumidification of the Caspian Sea appeared. Ivan Serov wrote:
"After Volgodon, in view of the fact that Ryaznogo Abakumov took me to the office, deputy MGB of the USSR, I was instructed to manage the Hydroproject, which was headed by S.Ya. Zhuk S. (in 1952, Serov was the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and simultaneously supervised the construction of the Volga-Don Canal - BT). One evening the Beetle came to me and said: "They are calling to Comrade Stalin with a map of the Caspian Sea." Well, I say: "Prepare a good map and go, and then report what directions will be."
At 2 o'clock in the morning Zhuk came back and reported: Comrade Stalin said that it was necessary to prepare proposals and calculations on how and when to dry the Caspian Sea. I look at him with surprised eyes, and he looks at me with a serious air. Then I found a voice and said: "Well, what did you say?" He replies: "I said it is possible, but I will calculate." True, Comrade Mikoyan spoke and told Comrade Stalin that we are losing the black caviar that we export to the world for the currency. Then Stalin strictly told Mikoyan that you are arguing with trading positions, we need oil.
At the same time it was said: the Volga is to be taken to the Kazakh steppes, the Kura is blocked, and on other rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea, to think what to do so that they do not fill the Caspian Sea. The deadline was two weeks.
Under the Soviet regime, many projects with a huge scope were conceived, which, if implemented, would lead to large-scale changes in nature and climate. Well-known plans for the turn of Siberian rivers to the south for the development of agriculture in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. But in 1952 an even more global project was considered - draining the bottom of the Caspian Sea with the goal of more convenient oil production.
Nikolai Baibakov, the then Minister of the Oil Industry of the USSR, mentioned this project in passing in the 1990s, and in 2016 in the published memoirs of the head of the KGB Ivan Serov a detailed story appeared about Stalin's plans ("Ivan Serov: Notes from a suitcase", publishing house "Enlightenment" ", 2016).
[. . .]
In 1949, the first in the USSR oil well in the open sea was drilled in the Caspian Sea 40 km from the shore. So began the creation of a city on steel piles, called "Oil Rocks". However, the construction of overpasses, which extend for many kilometers from the coast, was very expensive. In addition, their construction is possible only in shallow water. The Caspian was then the main territory of oil production in the USSR (the fields of Western Siberia had not yet been discovered). The question arose how to intensify oil production there. So, in 1952, the plan for the dehumidification of the Caspian Sea appeared. Ivan Serov wrote:
"After Volgodon, in view of the fact that Ryaznogo Abakumov took me to the office, deputy MGB of the USSR, I was instructed to manage the Hydroproject, which was headed by S.Ya. Zhuk S. (in 1952, Serov was the first deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and simultaneously supervised the construction of the Volga-Don Canal - BT). One evening the Beetle came to me and said: "They are calling to Comrade Stalin with a map of the Caspian Sea." Well, I say: "Prepare a good map and go, and then report what directions will be."
At 2 o'clock in the morning Zhuk came back and reported: Comrade Stalin said that it was necessary to prepare proposals and calculations on how and when to dry the Caspian Sea. I look at him with surprised eyes, and he looks at me with a serious air. Then I found a voice and said: "Well, what did you say?" He replies: "I said it is possible, but I will calculate." True, Comrade Mikoyan spoke and told Comrade Stalin that we are losing the black caviar that we export to the world for the currency. Then Stalin strictly told Mikoyan that you are arguing with trading positions, we need oil.
At the same time it was said: the Volga is to be taken to the Kazakh steppes, the Kura is blocked, and on other rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea, to think what to do so that they do not fill the Caspian Sea. The deadline was two weeks.
Obviously, this massive and environmentally calamitous geoengineering program did not come to pass. Even so, I wonder if there is a possibility that something like it could have happened, or at least started to happen: Look at what happened to the Aral Sea, sacrificed on the altar of all-Soviet economic achievements. (Then again, the Caspian is an international sea with Iran also having coastline. Then again, wouldn't Stalin's Soviet Union be willing to threaten Iran?) Completely draining the Caspian may be impossible, but substantially reducing its surface area may be imaginable, if you can find ways to redivert the rivers. Shifting the Volga to Kazakhstan may be impossible, for instance, but perhaps the Volga could be made to drain out via the Don, for instance. The northern third is particularly shallow, Wikipedia suggesting it has an average depth of five or six metres.
Given the political will, if the Volga and the Ural and other rivers were redirected, to Central Asia or elsewhere, I think it entirely possible to do serious damage to the Caspian. That considerable benefit might be provided by a well-watered Kazakhstan would make the task of fixing the Caspian Sea under any post-Stalinist regime politically difficult.
Thoughts?
