The waters of the syr darya and amu darya rivers, both of which supply the aral sea, were diverted away to irrigate Central Asia's desert steppes to boost cotton production.
The Soviet government decided in the 1960s to divert these rivers so that instead of supplying water to the Aral Sea Basin, they could irrigate the desert areas surrounding the sea and promote agriculture. The Soviet government deliberately deprived the Aral Sea of two major water sources by introducing programs to encourage agriculture, especially cotton. All this water was not only diverted to canals at the expense of the supply of the Aral Sea, but most of it was siphoned into the desert and wasted. River diversion is therefore responsible for the imbalance that has slowly dried up the ocean over the past 40 years.
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