Sarysu (river)

The Sarysu (Сарысу, Sarysu; Сарысу́, Sarysu) is a river in Karaganda, Turkistan and Kyzylorda Regions of Kazakhstan. It is 671 km long, and has a drainage basin of 81600 km2.

The name sary su means yellow water in Turkic languages.

Course
It arises above Zhanaarka and flows generally westward towards Kzyl-Dzhar where it turns south-westward past Birlestik and Zhanabas, then heading ever-more southerly it ends in the Telikol, across a cluster of small intermittent lakes at the western end of the Ashchykol Depression and to the east of the Dariyaly plain. River Boktykaryn runs parallel to it just before the Sarysu bends west towards the Telikol.

The main tributaries of the Sarysu are the Zhaman Sarysu, Zhaksy Sarysu, Surtisu, Atasu, Taldymanaka and Karakengir.

The 181 km long Shieli-Telikol Canal was built for irrigation, connecting the Telikol lacustrine basin to the north with the Syr Darya river near Shieli.