Toktogul Dam is a hydroelectric and irrigation dam on the

Naryn River The Naryn (, ) rises in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, flowing west through the Fergana Valley into Uzbekistan. Here it merges with the Kara Darya (near Namangan) to form the Syr Darya. It is long (together with its upper ...

in the

Jalal-Abad Province Jalal-Abad (; ) is a region ('' oblus'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is the city of the same name, Jalal-Abad. It is surrounded by (clockwise from the north) Talas Region, Chüy Region, Naryn Region, Osh Region, and Uzbekistan. Jalal-Abad Region ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. It is a concrete gravity dam with height of and length of . It is a part of the Naryn-Syr Darya cascade. It is named after

Toktogul Satilganov Toktogul Satylganov (, Perso-Arabic: توقتوعۇل ساتىلعان ۇۇلۇ; ; 25 October 1864 – 17 February 1933) was the most famous of the Kyrgyz Akyns – improvising poets and singers. The Kyrgyz town of Toktogul in the Jalal-Abad R ...

. The Toktogul Hydroelectric Station has an installed capacity of 1,260 MW, which makes it the largest power plant in the country. It has four turbines. Toktogul Reservoir (, ; ) is the largest of the

reservoirs A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of water, interrup ...

on the path of the Naryn River, a northern tributary of the

Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...

. The reservoir has total capacity of , of which is active capacity. Its length is and its surface area is . The maximal depth of the reservoir is . The city of

Kara-Köl Kara-Köl (; ''Kara-Kulʼ'') is a city in Jalal-Abad Region of Kyrgyzstan. It is a city of regional significance, not part of a district. Its area is , and its resident population was 26,901 in 2021. Kara-Köl consists of the town proper, the urb ...

, south of the reservoir (downstream from its dam) housed the dam construction workers, and currently is home to the hydro power plant staff. The city of Toktogul is located north of the reservoir.

Environmental and Social Impact

The reservoir was created in 1976 after construction works on the dam were completed and the Ketmen-Tobo Valley was flooded. The reservoir flooded more than 26 thousand hectares of land, of which 21.2 thousand hectares of agricultural land, 26 communities including large settlement Toktogul were displaced and the main road through the region was re-routed.

Archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

excavated barrows from

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

times before the sites were lost.

2009 crisis

Toktogul Reservoir had a critically low water level in 2009. A cold dry winter, combined with water sales to foreign countries as well as increased domestic demand left the reservoir at a fraction of its capacity. Electrical rationing had to be employed throughout the entire country with outages lasting up to 11 hours every day.

References

{{Naryn River dams Dams in Kyrgyzstan Hydroelectric power stations in Kyrgyzstan Hydroelectric power stations built in the Soviet Union Dams completed in 1974 Dams on the Naryn River Gravity dams Energy infrastructure completed in 1978