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How did dams and irrigation projects affect the Tarim River and Lop Nur?

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Map of Asia highlighting the location of the Takla Makan Desert in northwestern China, with the desert area shaded in orange. Surrounding regions, including parts of Europe, Africa, and the Pacific Ocean, are shown for geographic context. An inset in the top right corner provides a global view with the desert's location marked. — Takla Makan Desert The Takla Makan Desert is flanked by high mountain ranges: the Tien Shan to the north, the Kunlun Mountains to the south, and the Pamirs to the west.

In the mid-20th century, the construction of reservoirs and irrigation works along the middle course of the Tarim River significantly altered the region's hydrology. These projects were designed to support large-scale, irrigation-based agriculture in the Tarim Basin, but they resulted in the diversion of much of the river's water volume.12

By the 1970s, the combination of this water diversion and the region's intense evaporation caused the lower course of the Tarim River to dry up. Consequently, Lop Nur—a large saline lake that had existed for approximately 20,000 years—ceased to exist, transforming into a vast, salt-encrusted lake bed. Similarly, the Daxihaizi dam and reservoir project, built in the 1970s, dried up the river downstream and Lake Taitema, though the central government has since achieved some success in restoring flow below that reservoir. Since the disappearance of the water, the Lop Nur area has experienced increased wind erosion and extensive salt encrustation.12