The rivers full of water is the nature wealth of the country. It is because most of them are a part of Arial sea. Only few Pamir rivers supply Karakul lake and Tarima river in China. They all are different at source, conditions and usage. The most important of them are: Pyanj, Vakhsh, Amy Darya, Zaravshan , Kafirnighan and Sir Darya. They are important because they all start at the top of the mountains and are supplied by glaciers.

Pyanj river is the greatest river in the country, which is 921km long and stretches along the south border of the country. It main tributary is Vakhsh. At place where Vakhsh and Pyanj rivers join together, Amy Darya starts its riverbed. But there is only a part of the river inside the country, which is 85km long.

Pyanj river is the greatest river in the country, which is 921km long and stretches along the south border of the country. It main tributary is Vakhsh. At place where Vakhsh and Pyanj rivers join together, Amy Darya starts its riverbed. But there is only a part of the river inside the country, which is 85km long. Another big river in Central Asia is Sir Darya. It crosses the country at the north area and stretches there for 105km. Zarafshon is a rough and swift river right in the middle of the country. Kafirnighon flows its waters into Amy Darya river in the south. Most of the rivers flow through the narrow valleys and sometimes through the canyons with abrupt rocks. Some parts of Pyanj valley are famous for their abrupt rocks and mountains. They are Muks, Bartang, Yazgulem, and Shakhdar areas in the middle of the river flow. Also some parts of Zaravshon river, like: Yagnob and Obihingoy. Some parts of the rivers have very abrupt falls and are very rough. The falls could be from few meters to one kilometer high, or even from ten to hundred meters high. All rivers are different, they could be abrupt and rough, or slow and calm in valleys. Also they are all different at capacity of water. This capacity changes seasonally.

Spring floods are rough and fast. As most of the rivers are supplied from glaciers, they have two types of floods: the first flood is from melted snow and precipitations in spring, the second is from melted snow of the peaks and glaciers. Rivers near the mountains or foothills are supplied only with one type of spring flood- with melted snow and season precipitation. In winter season the amount of water in the rivers is decreasing and rivers become shallow. The conditions of the rivers with huge amount of water are good for irrigation in spring and summer times. Also the rivers are used for getting energy from their flows. And it influences on the level of the rivers. That’s why some water reservoirs were built to adjust it.

The reserves of the water energy from Tajik rivers are great, especially from rivers like Vakhsh and Pyanj, but small rivers are also used for the hydro-electricians needs. Small rivers like those which flow out of the lakes. Among them are Iskandar Darya, Bartang and Gunt. In the past their valleys were closed by huge landslides, and above those natural dams, some of the water reservoirs were formed naturally.  

Powerful electric dams could be built on the rivers and it wouldn’t cost a lot.

There are a lot of lakes in the country. Most of them are located in Pamir or in the mountains in Central Tajikistan. There are only a few of them in lowlands and near the riverbeds. According to their kettle structure, they could be divided into Tectonic type, glacier type, blocked up type, karstic type and flooded type. Most of the lake basins were formed by the earthquakes, glaciers’ slides and landslides.

Karakul is the biggest tectonic- glacier type lake . It’s 4000 m high above the sea level in Pamir. The water is salty and almost lifeless. It is 380 sq.km and about 240 m deep.

Sarez-lake and Yashikul were formed by the earthquakes and landslides. They are surrounded by rocks and mountains and the lakes are full of fish. Sarez-lake is more than 500m deep.

The Lake Iskandarkul was formed by glacier water and blocked up with landslide rocks. It’s a beautiful place to visit. Lots of the karstric lakes were formed in the valleys, most of them are small, round and deep. They were formed in places of some rivers’ floods and rivers’ slumps.

В республике созданы искусственные водоемы. На Сырдарье и Вахше сооружены Фархадское, Кайраккумское и Головное водохранилища. В верховьях Вахша возникло Нурекское и другие водохранилища. Искусственные "моря" обеспечивают нормальный режим работы турбин, способствуют орошению и водоснабжению, развитию судоходства. 

Artificial water reservoirs were formed in the country too. Some were made on the rivers like Vakhsh and Sir Darya. There are reservoirs called Farkhad, Kayrakkum and Main water reservoir. At the top of the river Vakhsh, there is Nurek and some others. These artificial seas provide the stable work of the turbines at the dams, irrigate the fields and help to develop the Navigation system.  

Due to the mountain lakes and rivers, Tajikistan became a popular place for tourists and people who love extreme way of tourism. It’s a right place for hiking, mountain climbing, horseback riding and others. Lakes and rivers are quiet poor with fish, because most of the species are caught for trading, and most of them arecaught in Sir Darya, Vakhsh and Kafirnighan.

по материалам сайта www.sogdianapamir.tj