Kariz

By Meshrep.com

The Kariz, an irrigation system of wells connected by underground channels in Turpan area. The structure of the Kariz  basically consists of wells, underground channels, ground canals and small reservoirs. In spring and summer, a great mount of melting snow and rainfall flow down from the Bughda and Karawuquntag mountains north and west of the Turpan Depression into the valleys and then seep into the Gobi Desert. Taking advantage of the mountain slopes, the working people ingeniously created the Kariz  to draw the underground water to irrigate the farmland. The water in Kariz  will not evaporate in large quantities even under the scorching heat and fierce wind, hence ensuring a stable water flow and gravity irrigation. At its peak, the Kariz irrigation system exceeded 5,000 km (3,106 miles)

Nowadays, large stretches of fertile land are still irrigated by Kariz. It was build for agricultural as well as for residential use in 2000 years ago, dates back to 103 B.C. In 1950s there are 1984 of them, now only 614 of them have running water, rest are tried up. The official research concluded that the Kariz  will disappear in next 25 years.

Generally, a Kariz is 3 km (1.9 miles) with the longest being 20 to 30 km (12-19 miles) with several dozen vertical wells. Sometimes the number of vertical wells exceeds 300. Until today, the shortest Kariz found is only 30 meters (98 feet) long. The vertical wells are for ventilation, digging and maintenance of the Kariz . The bottoms of all the vertical wells are connected so that water can pass through. The underground canal is about 2 meters (6.5 feet) high and covered with earth to resist the heat. The surface canals, connected to the underground ones, are not more than 1 meter (3.2 feet) wide with trees planted on both sides to prevent evaporation. The vertical wells near the water source may be 100 meters (328 feet) deep while further downstream they are less than 10 meters (32.8 feet) deep.

In last 10 years, due to the excess use of underground water for irrigation and support fast growth of population, underground water level decreased in an ever fast speed.

Even Kariz  had 2000 year of history, but you rarely find one that is 1000 years old, because people renovate them from time to time. The oldest Kariz  now in Turpan is 484 years old, that was build in 1520.

Kariz (Underground River)

Uighur Girls in Kariz

An Uighur Girl getting water

Kids playing on top of Kariz

Farmers hauling the dirt from Kariz

Kariz in the Musiem