Kashkadaria

(at its source, the Shin’gasoi; in its lower course, the Maimanakdar’ia), a river in the Uzbek SSR. Length, 378 km; basin area, 8, 780 sq km.

The Kashkadar’ia rises in the western spurs of the Zeravshan and Gissar mountains. Below the village of Duab it flows in a broad valley and receives from the left a number of tributaries, many of which have a greater rate of stream flow than the Kashkadar’ia itself. The principal tributaries are the Aksu, Tankhazdar’ia, Iakkabagdar’ia (Kyzyldar’ia), and the Guzardar’ia. The river is fed by snow and rain. Its high-water period occurs in spring; during the summer the river has little water. The average discharge as it issues from the mountains (266 km from the mouth) is 24.9 cu m per sec. Its waters are used extensively for irrigation, and beyond the Karshi Oasis the river bed gradually disappears. The Kashkadar’ia is fed by the waters of the Zeravshan by means of the Eskiankhor Canal. Located on the Kashkadar’ia is the Chim Kurgan Reservoir, and on the Guzardar’ia is the Pachkamarskoe Reservoir.