Ab-i Istada ("standing water") is an

endorheic An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

in the Nawa District of

Ghazni Province Ghazni (; ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in southeastern Afghanistan. The province contains 19 Districts of Afghanistan, districts, encompassing over a thousand villages and roughly 1.3 million people, making it the 5th most ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It lies in a large depression created by the Chaman Fault system in the southern foothills of the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

, west of

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

Description

In modern times the lake has been reported to have a surface area of , although it dries out periodically. It is very shallow, not exceeding in depth. There are two small islands near the lake's southeastern shore, Loya ghundai () and Kuchney ghundai (). The water is highly alkaline and mass die-offs of freshwater fish from the Ghazni River sometimes occur. The main inflows into Ab-i Istada are the Ghazni, Sardeh and Nahara Rivers, which drain into it from the northeast. The watershed draining into the lake covers and was home to over 1.8 million people in 2003. Three sets of

raised beach A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin, ...

es surrounding the lake have been noted at , and above the normal lake level. At high water levels, the lake is known to overflow into the Lora River, a tributary of the Arghistan River, through two channels on the south side of the lake, Akasi Mandeh and Sekva Mandeh. A groundwater connection between the lake and the Lora drainage has been suggested.

Settlement

Historically the area around the lake was unpopulated, although nomads from nearby regions visited it in the summer. More recently, the

Tarakai The Tarakai or Taraki () is a Ghilzai Pashtun tribe; mainly found in the Ghazni province of Afghanistan and the large number of population of Tarakai tribe is now settled in Pakistan, mainly in Quetta, Pishin, Zhob, Loralai, Duki, Sherani o ...

have settled near the lake: in 2003 there were eight villages within with a total population of approximately 5000. Economic activities around the lake include

trapping Animal trapping, or simply trapping or ginning, is the use of a device to remotely catch and often kill an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including for meat, fur trade, fur/feathers, sport hunting, pest control, and w ...

saker Saker may refer to: * Saker falcon (''Falco cherrug''), a species of falcon * Saker (cannon), a type of cannon * Saker Baptist College, an all-girls secondary school in Limbe, Cameroon * Grupo Saker-Ti, a Guatemalan writers group formed in 1947 * C ...

and

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

and collection of fuel wood.

Environment

The wetlands around Ab-i Istada attract a variety of migratory birds, over 120 species having previously been recorded.

Babur Babur (; 14 February 148326 December 1530; born Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his father and mother respectively. He was also ...

observed enormous flocks of

greater flamingo The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern (coastal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent (south of the Him ...

es at the lake; their numbers in recent years have varied between 0 and 9000. The wetlands were once a critical stopover for the central migratory population of

Siberian crane The Siberian crane (''Leucogeranus leucogeranus''), also known as the Siberian white crane or the snow crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the crane (bird), cranes. They are distinctive among the cranes: adults are nearly all White, snowy whi ...

s, but these have not been sighted at the lake since 1986. In 1974, the Afghani government proclaimed a Waterfowl and Flamingo Sanctuary around the lake, causing considerable resentment among the locals; conservation efforts ended with the Soviet invasion in 1979 and have not been restarted since.

Important bird area

A 27,000 ha area, encompassing the lake and its immediate surrounds, has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

because it supports populations of greylag geese,

common pochard The common pochard (; ''Aythya ferina''), known simply as pochard in the United Kingdom, is a medium-sized diving duck in the family Anatidae. It is widespread across the Palearctic. It breeds primarily in the steppe regions of Scandinavia and Si ...

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

great white pelican The great white pelican (''Pelecanus onocrotalus'') also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or simply white pelican is a bird in the pelican family. It breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and Africa, in swamps and shallow ...

s, black-winged stilts,

Kentish plover The Kentish plover (''Anarhynchus alexandrinus'') is a small wader () of the family Charadriidae that breeds on the shores of saline lakes, lagoons, and coasts, populating sand dunes, marshes, semi-arid desert, and tundra.Székely, T., A. Argüel ...

s, slender-billed gulls and gull-billed terns.

References

External links