Sources of water; water sources of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan lies far from oceans and seas, so it gets its water mainly from rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Most rivers start from glaciers and snows in the mountains. The largest rivers are the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya. The Amu Darya is the most abundant river in Central Asia; it forms where the Panj and Vakhsh rivers join, and counted together with the Panj it is about 2,500 km long and flows through several countries. Other rivers are the Zarafshan, Chirchiq, Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya. Lakes include Aydarkul and Sarykamysh; reservoirs include Chorvoq, Tuyabuguz and Andijan. In Tashkent there are canals such as the Anhor. The Aral Sea is actually a salt lake that was once among the biggest in the world. When Amu Darya and Syr Darya water was taken for irrigation and stopped reaching it, it dried and shrank; its water became several times saltier and the dry bed was covered with salt. Salty dust blown by wind harms plants, animals and people. Today saksovul is planted on the dry bed to stop salt and sand from drifting.