THE EFFECTIVE USE OF WATER IN KONYA (TURKEY) CLOSED BASIN

8th International Scientific Conference - SGEM2008, www.sgem.org, SGEM2008 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN: 954-918181-2, June 16-20, 2008, Vol. 1, 823-830 pp

ABSTRACT

There are 25 main river basins in Turkey. Konya Closed Basin (KCB) is 4th biggest
basin according to its precipitation area which is about 53 850 km2. The area consists of
two closed sub-basins those are referred to as Salt Lake Basin and Konya Basin.
Disruption of the natural hydrological regimes and over-consumption of freshwater
resources pose the principal threats to the wetlands, salt lakes and freshwater bodies.
Irrigation schemes have diverted water from the streams that feed scattered freshwater
resources to convert some of the salty steppes to agricultural fields. It leads to a
decrease in the overall freshwater content of the lakes, wetlands and streams.

These are two of several drainless areas of the Central Anatolian Plateau, which is itself
also a closed basin. Each of the basins is characterized by the presence of a large lake,
respectively Salt Lake and Beysehir Lake. The KCB is fed by rivers and groundwater
coming mainly from the south and by melt water and rainfall from the mountain range
bordering the basin in the south.

The Konya Plain Project (KPP) is a comprehensive group of projects which includes
construction of dams, hydroelectric power plants, and irrigation systems as well as
providing developments in agricultural infrastructure, transportation industry, water
supply, water budged, environmental impacts and in other issues. Konya Plain Project
(KPP) is thought together with land consolidation studies in the region. The KPP
comprises 47,720 km2 of area spreaded over 4 river basins in Konya closed basin. The
KPP consists of 12 projects including 9 big scale water projects, 2 water supply
projects, energy projects, and a number of small scale surface and ground water
irrigation projects.

Keywords: Basin management, Konya Closed Basin (KCB), Irrigation, Water usage