ASTANA – Beginning this year, the city construction department is planning to implement 18 projects on the reconstruction of the Yessil riverbed to protect the capital from flooding. Completion of the work is dependent on funding allocation, reported astana.gov.kz, the city administration’s official website.
Astana’s Yessil River.
The reconstruction plan includes several stages. The design of four facilities, including the water control dam, is scheduled for 2015. Construction of 14 facets is planned for next year and four more phases are set to be built in 2017-2018.
The plan also provides a new beach area for city residents and visitors, as well as construction of the harbour with an appropriate 17-unit infrastructure to ensure allowable conditions of storage, maintenance and operation of the fleet.
The main aims of the projects are to protect Astana from flooding and construct new embankments. A number of measures will create more favourable environmental conditions, eliminate discharge of any drains into the river and contribute to the development of shipping and comprehensive arrangement of territory with maximum greening.
The Yessil River is the left and longest tributary of the Irtysh River. Its length is 2,450 km and the basin area is 177,000 sq.km. The river originates in the Niyaz Mountain massif, with the upper course passing through Astana. Since 1998, the Yessil River has been actively managed for flood management and maintaining water level to provide recreational use and ensure the showpiece appearance. It is dammed downstream from central Astana, which keeps its level higher than it otherwise typically would be, while the river bottom has been made deeper to let flood waters pass faster.
