Kairakkum Reservoir
Kairakkum Reservoir
a reservoir formed by the dam of the Kairakkum Hydraulic Engineering Complex on the Syr Darya River in the western part of the Fergana Valley (in the Tadzhik and Uzbek SSR’s). The reservoir was filled during 1956–58. Area, 513 sq km; volume, 4.2 cu km; length, 55 km; maximum width, 20 km; average depth, 8.1 m; greatest depth, 25 m.
The water level of the Kairakkum Reservoir varies within a range of 7 m; it regulates the seasonal and, to some extent, long-term water discharge. It was built to ensure stable irrigation of existing irrigated fields and to irrigate more than 300, 000 hectares of new lands. There is fishing in the reservoir (carp, members of the genus Varicorhinus, bream, and pike). The city of Kairakkum is on the bank of the reservoir.