Eurasia Canal

The Eurasia Canal (Канал "Евразия", Kanal "Evraziya") is a proposed 700-kilometre-long (430 mi) canal connecting the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea along the Kuma-Manych Depression. Currently, a chain of lakes and reservoirs and the shallow irrigation Kuma–Manych Canal are found along this route. If completed the canal would also link several landlocked countries in Asia with the open seas through the Bosphorus.

The canal is intended to provide a shorter route for shipping than the existing Volga–Don Canal system of waterways; it would also require fewer locks (or lower-rise locks) than the Volga-Don route.

Manych Ship Canal is the existing canal system that would be the likely route for the Eurasian Canal.

Potential shipping route


The route of the canal, as usually proposed, would follow the thalweg (the lowest-ground line) of the Kuma-Manych Depression. From the Caspian Sea westward, the canal route would follow:
 * The lower course of the Kuma River (a shallow, partly dry river which flows toward the Caspian), on the border of Dagestan and Kalmykia
 * A new canal through the steppe, possible following a section of the present Kuma–Manych Canal (an irrigation canal bringing water from the Terek River and the upper Kuma River to the East Manych),
 * The East Manych,
 * The West Manych, which flows toward the lower Don via Lake Manych-Gudilo, Proletarsk, Vesyolovsk, and Ust'-Manych Reservoirs. A shallow (1.3 m) navigable waterway already exists there.
 * From the confluence point of the West Manych and the Don, the ships would follow the same route as used by the existing Caspian-to-Black Sea navigation, i.e., less than 100 km down the Don until its fall into the Sea of Azov, and then across the Sea of Azov and the Strait of Kerch into the Black Sea.

Locks
As the highest point of this route is only 27 meters above the level of the Sea of Azov and 54 m above that of the Caspian Sea, the preliminary design presented by the Hydraulic Facilities Safety Expert Center "GIDROTEKHEXPERTIZA" (Экспертный центр по безопасности гидротехнических сооружений "Гидротехэкспертиза") proposes the  construction of three to four low-rise ship locks on the western slope and three mid-rise or six low-rise locks on the eastern slope. The option involving the construction of six low-rise locks on the eastern slope of the watershed can significantly reduce the volume of earthwork and lower by one-third the need for freshwater, which is precalculated as approximately 1.5 cubic km.

This compares favorably with the 13 locks of the existing Volga–Don Canal, where ships use nine locks to rise 88 m from the Volga to the canal's highest point, and then four more locks to descend 44 m to the Don's Tsimlyansk Reservoir.

Water supply
The Kuma-Manych depression area is quite arid, with annual precipitation no more than 400 mm (in the western section) and 200 mm (in the eastern section). To operate this shipping canal with locks, a significant additional supply of freshwater would be necessary. Three options for its provision are being considered:
 * The route of the abandoned Volga-Chogray Canal across Kalmykia. Construction of this canal was started in the late Soviet era, but later abandoned . This time, it is proposed to reduce water loss by building a concrete-lined canal, or possibly even a pipeline, along this route.
 * Pumping water from the mouths of the Volga to the eastern end of the canal (presumably, along a pipeline that would follow the Caspian coast), and then uphill along the eastern section of the canal.
 * Increasing the water flow of the irrigation canals that already bring Kuban and Terek water to the West and East Manych, such as the Nevinnomyssk Canal, the Terek-Kuma Canal and the Kuma–Manych Canal. The idea is to make better use of the overflow water during floods on the Kuban and Terek. The design of this plan predicts that this would alleviate the problem of frequent inundations on these rivers.
 * Digging a canal deep enough to reach sea level thus refilling the Caspian with the sea of Azov saltwater. This solution avoids the problem of annex canals and waste of freshwater and focus the resources on only one big canal. The number of locks could be drastically reduced since the lessen declivity.

Supplying the Manych Waterway with freshwater from the Volga using the first or second option can compensate the Sea of Azov for the volume of freshwater that is now lost by the Don River to the locks of the Volga-Don Ship Canal.

History
The Soviet government decided to construct the Manych Waterway connecting the Black and Caspian Seas via the Kuma-Manych Depression in May 1932. In the same year construction started in the West Manych River Valley. According to the 1936 construction project, the shipping route consisted of three sections. The first, western, section from the Don River to the Chogray Reservoir on the East Manych, 448 km long, was planned as a cascade of reservoirs; the second section – from the Chogray Dam to the Kuma River – was to be built as a canal with a water depth of 3 m, bottom width of 67 m, and length of 73 km. The third, eastern, section, 150 km long, was intended as a free-flow navigable and irrigation canal (along the lower course of the Kuma) reaching a port on the Caspian coast. Of these three sections, only the first was ever built.

By 1941, the cascade of dams on the West Manych was completed. It created three reservoirs, in the following (east to west) order: Proletarsk (Proletarskoye) Reservoir (Пролетарское водохранилище), 150 km long, Vesyolovsk (Vesyolovskoe) Reservoir (Весёловское водохранилище), 100 km long, and Ust'-Manych (Ust'-Manychskoye) Reservoir (Усть-Манычское водохранилище), 62 km long. The uppermost reservoir of the cascade, the Proletarskoye, is in fact connected with the source of the Western Manych, Lake Manych-Gudilo, the Proletarsk dam raising the water level in the lake. This system of reservoirs and ship locks creates the so-called Manych Waterway, 329 km long but only 1.3 m deep. It is still used for shipping, but on a very minor scale.

With the outbreak of the Second World War further construction of the Manych Ship Canal was suspended. After the war, destroyed or damaged dams and locks of the shipping canal were reconstructed, but the plans for continuing the construction further eastward were canceled, since the much deeper Volga–Don Canal was built instead, and the existing demand for freight transport did not justify a second canal between the Caspian and the Black/Azov Sea basins.

Further east, on the East Manych River (which flows east), the Chogray Reservoir, 48.8 km long, was constructed in 1969–1973, but at that time the focus was on irrigation, not shipping.

Recent developments
The Russian government's interest in improvement of the waterways between the Caspian basin and that of the Azov and Black Seas – which may or may not involve the Eurasia Canal route – is due to the increasing volume of cargo traffic between the Volga-Caspian basin and European countries, as well as the inadequacy of existing facilities on the Volga–Don Canal for handling the expected cargo flows. The proponents of the project refer to a study of freight shipping in southern Russia by the Central Research Institute of Economy and Water Transport Exploitation (Центральный научно-исследовательский институт экономики и эксплуатации водного транспорта (ЦНИИЭВТ), TsNIIEVT), a research center of Russia's Ministry of Transport. This study predicts significant growth in the demand for freight transportation, in particular for liquid cargoes, between the Caspian region and the ports of southern and central Europe. The study also suggests that a significant amount of cargo shipped between the Asian countries and western Europe can be redirected to the canal as well.

On June 15, 2007, at the 17th Foreign Investors’ Council Meeting in Ust-Kamenogorsk, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan proposed the Eurasia Canal project to build a canal connecting the Caspian and Black Seas. The project was estimated to cost US$6 billion and take 10 years to complete.

If built, the nearly 700 km (430 mi) Eurasia Canal would be four times longer than the Suez Canal and eight times longer than the Panama Canal. President Nazarbayev stated that the canal would make Kazakhstan a maritime power and benefit many other Central Asian nations as well. Russia has proposed an alternative plan to upgrade the existing Volga–Don Canal.

In June 2009 the President of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, signed a protocol of intent with the Chinese SINOHYDRO Corporation about cooperating in the construction of the Manych Ship Canal – Eurasia Canal.

<!--== Proposed design details == Preliminary design plans for the Eurasia Canal were drawn up by a number of engineering firms in Russia in the early 2000s.

Before it was regulated, the West Manych river consisted of 15 small lakes, connected by narrow streams. After spring flooding, the Manych quickly became shallow because the geological structure of Manych depression looks like ideal plain with “plates” and hollows scattered on it with depth, as a rule, not more than 2 m. In summer, this place often looked like flat cracked saline land, in some areas sparkling with the whiteness of salt.

In the second half of twentieth century's economic use of Manych steppes became stronger. In 1948 Nevinnomyssky canal was complete and water from Kuban River began to flow to reservoirs of Manych. By summer of 1954 water level of Proletarskoe reservoir reached the altitude mark of -11,9 m and Manych-Gudilo lake became full-flowing. The saltiness of the water system rapidly decreased, lakes filled with water, many of them forming one connected system.

Filling of Manych with water, creation of water supply canals led to appearance of considerable quantity of new comfortable places for nesting and increasing of quantity of fodder resources for wading birds. During first 15–20 years after the construction of tandem reservoir system biodiversity of fish fauna was considerably increased, some species of fish gained in importance of fishery.

However, at present time because of water saltiness increase fish yields in Proletarskoe reservoir significantly decreased, even down to the minimum and fishing is possible only in mouths of rivers which fall into reservoirs. Completion of construction of canal make possible supplying of Mancy-Gudilo Lake with freshwater under human control, which can reduce water saltiness level down to best value. In result, biodiversity of fish fauna and its productivity would be increased.

With a view to intensifying further economic development of the south of Russia, completion of construction of the canal proves the barest necessity. Construction of additional processing capacities for the oil and gas fields discovered on the near-Caspian territory of Russia will result in the need to carry up to 15 million tons of cargo per annum by 2020.

At the same time, there are plans of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to create their own processing capacities, in the expectation that the total amount of processed oil products will reach 25 million tons. That amount will most probably be carried to Western Europe rather on waterways than by railway. Also, tanker transportation of oil from the Caspian shelf oilfield to the processing capacities of LUKOIL and KAZMUNAIGAZ on the Black Sea shore without transshipment seems like an optimal solution.

Modernization of the existing "Volga-Don" navigation canal can only meet the requirements of Russian companies. Thus, aware of the impossibility to convey cargo from the Caspian states to Western Europe through the existing and prospective Russian transport routes by 2020, their representatives are sure to lead negotiations on construction of a transport corridor through Azerbaijan to the Georgian seaports in the Black Sea or through Iran to the Persian Gulf.

It is in the national interests of Russia to create a cost-beneficial universal transport route that could satisfy all the requirements of the economically developing Caspian countries. If Russia abandons construction of the Manych Ship Canal, it is unlikely to be able to provide competitive cargo tariffs and, thus, is sure to lose a considerable part of the profits from the transit of cargo from the expanding economies of the Caspian region countries.

For the south of Russia, completion of construction of the canal can become a key factor in forming industrial clusters benefitting from the shipping route (territories of Republics of Kalmykia and Dagestan, Stavropol and Krasnodarsky Territories, Rostov and Astrakhan regions)

Freshwater from the canal will increase watering of arid areas and, thereby, the yields of agriculture and husbandry. It is possible to construct a hydroelectric pumped storage power plants on the base of canal facilities. Such power plants could significantly increase the operating benefits of wind-driven power plants planned to be constructed in the Republic of Kalmykia and Stavropol Territory.

Implementation of the project will shorten delivery time and cut down transport expenses, which is sure to contribute to the competitive ability of the Russian transport network. Construction and maintenance of the canal will promote further development of regional productive forces, such as the establishment of new enterprises and, thus, new workplaces in regions with high unemployment rates, reducing social tension and extending the taxable basis.

In conclusion, if one compares possible consequences of ecocatastrophes to appear while transporting oil and oil-products by tankers with capacity of 5 000 tons along the Manych Ship Canal and Volga-Don Waterway, it is evident that negative influence on the unique natural complex of the Volga-Akhtuba inter-river area is sure to be more severe, for out of strong current along the navigation part of the river and numerous shoals and ducts it is almost impossible to localize an oil patch.

In case of shipwreck (as a result of any cause) of tanker freight-carrying capacity of 5000 tons with oil spillage, for example, near Volgograd, whole lower part of Volga including protected areas and nature reserves would suffer catastrophic damage. The same is true for the lower part of the Don. So, just because of that, it must be forbidden to use of tankers with capacity over 5 000 tons for transportation of oil and oil-products without extreme necessity along the natural waterways, including the Volga-Don Waterway.

On the Manych Ship Canal a such shipwreck will lead to local limited extent pollution between shipping locks. A system of locks would allow to control flow velocity and reduce the speed of oil patch spread down to minimum and quickly remove results of oil spill.

Also it must be noted that during a 30 year period the water level of the Caspian Sea can vary within 4 m. In case of recession of water level of Caspian Sea down to true altitude of -29 m depths of the lower Volga would decrease and it would be very difficult to maintain ship movement via this part of Volga-Don Waterway in the dimension planned.

A the same time, the level of the shipping lock of the Manych Ship Canal near the Caspian Sea can be designed taking water level fluctuation into consideration.

Analysis of influence of the Manych Ship Canal on closely guarded natural areas and districts with controlled regime of economical activity in the Republic of Kalmykia

The proposed project of a new water transport connection is not only an important part of the prospective national transport system (to serve internal and international cargo traffic, including transportation of Caspian oil) but also a multipurpose water-resources scheme with huge economic potential for the region.

It is evident that construction of a canal in the arid zone should be preceded by fundamental studies of prospective consequences for the environment. Implementation of the project is connected with considerable earth excavation when laying the canal track.

An environmental impact statement can be presented only at the design stage. Minimization of negative ecological impact can only be provided if the individual design companies and experts involved co-ordinate their technical decisions. Some scientists have made wrong assumptions about whether the saltwater of the Azov Sea can fall into the canal.

According to the project concept the watershed point is in Chograi reservoir; freshwater along the western slope (27 m) travels down to the Don and along the eastern slope (54 m) to the Caspian Sea. Thus, the whole canal track will be filled with freshwater.

In general, negative consequences for the environment of the south of Russia are expected to be insignificant. The positive consequences of implementation of the project are as follows:

1.	Creation of prerequisites for social, economic, agricultural, and industrial development; development of nature conservation and of a fish processing industry in the adjacent regions of Kalmykia, Dagestan, Stavropol Krai and Rostov Oblast.

2.	Improvement of water supply in the arid zone. Nowadays every fourth citizen of the coastal zone in the Republic of Kalmykia suffers from kidney infections caused by saline subsoil water and the transfer of salt by wind from the area adjacent to the Manych Lake. After construction of the Manych Ship Canal it will be possible to supply the Manych-Gudilo Lake with freshwater under human control, which can reduce water saltiness down to an optimum level.

3.	Investigations of the local ecosystems increase of assessments for nature conservation.

4.	Job growth, creation of workplaces, an end to the outflow of the able-bodied population, influx of qualified specialists from other regions and cities.

5.	Widening of the existing social infrastructure (housing, kindergartens, educational and cultural institutions, hospitals, etc.); improvement in the state of people's health; optimization of the demographic and environmental situation in the region.

The mentioned engineering and construction measures and implementation of the project in general can even extenuate the existing negative processes in the Manych-Chograi ecosystem. Thus, to foresee all the aspects of environmental safety in the arid zone of the south of Russia basic research on prognostics and modeling of climatic volatility is required.

It should be mentioned that if the canal is fed from the area of permanently fresh water near the mouth of the Volga river via pumping water up along the eastern cascade of the main canal, it would be possible to use plans of construction of wind-electric set for power supply of pumps.

For water supply of processes of locking on the canal amount of electricity power of 60 MW will be enough. Such amount can be provided by construction of 30 wind-electric sets with output of 3 MW each. In the variant of construction of the Canal using 6 locks it meets the construction of 10 sets near every of 3 locks on the eastern slope of the Canal. Besides of that, it will be possible to use return part of energy during lockage. Thereby, canal facilities can be used to hold back water upstream of the Canal for power generation according to pumped-storage hydroelectricity scheme in time of peak level of electricity consumption and zero-wind condition. Thus, this canal can become the first large-scale ecological hydraulic structure in Russia. In addition, the canal can minimize negative effect to nature made by our predecessors. Completion of construction of Manych Ship Canal can become an example of comprehensive approach on the development of arid area in the world of today. This assessment is preliminary and can only become more concrete after conducting proper comprehensive ecological and engineer research of the area through which the canal track will be laid, and after the planned engineering solution and the operating regime of the Canal have been agreed.

Completion of construction of the Manych Ship Canal, which will link Caspian and Azov Seas and provide an outlet to the world ocean for the south of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the northern part of Iran, cab become an important factor in developing the whole Southern Federal District.

In contrast to pipeline transportation, water transport allows all types of cargo to be shipped, including products of the hydrocarbon process industry, which cannot be transported by pipelines or such transporting of which is not profitable. A ship canal would be an important factor in developing manufacturing industries in the South of Russia (Republics of Kalmykia and Dagestan, Stavropol and Krasnodarskiy Territories, Rostov and Astrakhan Regions). Oil and gas processing, the chemical industry, and other export-oriented production can obtain a high-power development impulse.

Decrease of the unemployment rate would also be one of the most important results of completion of construction of the Manych Ship Canal. Southern Federal District is the most problematic region of Russia with a view to the employment of the population, which is one of the causes of an increase in social tensions.

Lack of employment leads to a drift of the population away from the region while a narrow range of choice of needed professions, as a rule, limited to agriculture and husbandry, brings highly skilled specialists, among them graduates of the best colleges or universities of Russia, to look for a job away from home. The present birthrate in the south of Russia, the highest in the Russian Federation, suggests that the problem of employment may be further aggravated if the present situation does not change. Completion of canal construction would lead to the emergence of a considerable quantity of new jobs in the production sector, including operation of the Canal (oil processing/refining, chemical industry, other export-oriented production) and in the process of construction and operation of the navigational route. It should be mentioned that creation of new jobs in the productive industry leads to an increasing number of employees in service industries.

Freshwater from the canal would favour an increase of productivity in agriculture and husbandry. Desalinization of strongly saline water bodies through which the canal route goes will significantly improve water quality and benefit fishery.

Completion of construction of the Manych Ship Canal will lead to the emergence of manufacturing activities, a significant decrease of the unemployment rate, normalization of the migration situation, increasing incomes, and improvement to the well-being of the population.

Scientific and technical aspects to feasibility studies of new water and land routes have always been relevant for the densely populated south of Russia. From this viewpoint the intention to construct a navigation canal should be thoroughly studied lest there should be environmentally negative consequences. It is evident that a total estimate of possible consequences must be made during the conceptual and planning phase. Initially, the basic risk factors are as follows:

1.	Increase in salinity of soil as a result of underflooding (subsoil water);

2.	Possibility to bring in elements of flora and fauna which are foreign to the region;

3.	Menace of oil pollution of the water basin and littoral (coastal) ecosystems.

Measures to lessening prospective negative influence should be based on the above mentioned potential menaces. Thus, to prevent further underflooding and soil salinization concrete lining of the canal invert and banks or other measures to decrease percolating water losses are required. This will also help diminish the intensity of abrasive processes (deterioration of the shoreline).

According to the project concept, there will be no direct waterway between the Azov and Caspian seas, for the watershed is on the level of the Chograi reservoir. A complex of measures for control over the ballast waters, elaboration of technical procedure for their sterilization will greatly diminish the danger of mutual penetration of foreign fauna.

The closed reservoirs of the Kuma-Manych depression are nowadays over-mineralized which results in soil salinization of the adjacent areas and appearance of unusable agricultural areas. Inflow of water is sure to lead to less mineralization of water and as a part of it- partial desalinization of the soil.

To prevent oil pollution the barest necessity is to strictly observe the existing regulations for tanker oil transportation. Absence of constant current and the designed system of waterworks installations are to facilitate localization of oil patches and other types of surface pollution and removal of its consequences. 500 of 700 km of the designed canal track passes through the existing reservoirs, and, in fact, requires deepening of the canal invert.

Minimization of the environmentally negative impact can only be provided if separate design companies and environment experts co-ordinate their technical decisions and strictly observe the technical regulations and norms. Taking into account the above, implementation of the project of constructing the "Eurasia" navigation canal is considered feasible and will not have environmentally negative consequences. --> The most probable technical parameters of the Eurasia Canal are: 6.5 m depth, 110 m width and more than 75 million tons per year of traffic capacity. The canal is envisaged for the passage of vessels with a freight-carrying capacity up to 10,000 tons. This width and depth would put the canal on a par with the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

Alternatives
There are a number of alternative projects by now for the Caspian Sea to receive a canal with Ocean connection. One is the proposed New Dawn Canal. This alternatives targets a maximum Carbon Capture and Storage scheme with sea-water farming. On the border of the Canal saltmarshes could extend and sea-water farming storing great amounts of Carbon in the soil. In this respect it is the opposite of the other proposed canals which are mainly about exporting the untapped oil-reserves around the Caspian Sea.

Literature

 * Болаев Араша Валериевич "Предварительная оценка влияния завершения строительства Манычского судоходного канала (канала "Евразия") на социально-экономическое развитие Юга России" - Вестник Института комплексных исследований аридных территорий, 2008 №2 (Arasha Bolaev "Preliminary estimation of influence of completion of construction of the Manych Ship Canal (the Eurasia Canal) on the socio-economic development of the South of Russia", Herald of the Institute of Complex Research of Arid Territories, 2008 №2)