You are currently viewing the summary.
View Full TextLog in to view the full text
AAAS login provides access to Science for AAAS members, and access to other journals in the Science family to users who have purchased individual subscriptions.
More options
Download and print this article for your personal scholarly, research, and educational use.
Buy a single issue of Science for just $15 USD.
Summary
As scientists worry about the prospect of a catastrophic flood from Lake Sarez in the Pamir Mountains (see main text), agricultural communities on the plains below face a very different problem. This arid region in Central Asia has inherited a set of resource blunders made decades ago by the Soviet Union. And since the Soviet collapse in the 1990s, competition for fresh water has increased. The situation might be eased, experts say, if Lake Sarez could be tapped and its surplus water distributed. But that won't happen anytime soon. For now, regional water problems are growing more intense.
