Paul Goble
Staunton, June 2 – The declining water level of the Caspian Sea is becoming ever more obvious because as the coast recedes, the territory of three federal subjects of the Russian Federation – Dagestan, Kalmykia and Astrakhan – creating both problems as coastal facilities have to be moved and opportunities for the sale of more property.
In Dagestan, the coastline is now several kilometers further into what was once the Caspian Sea and the Agrakhan Gulf has almost completely disappeared. In Kalmykia, several islands have been transformed into peninsulas as a result. And in Astrakhan, the Volga delta is being transformed with some water routes closing and new islands being formed.
Among the dozens of stories about this development, see sizran.bezformata.com/listnews/i-vse-delo-v-volge/144136144/, ktv-ray.ru/novost/rossiya_prirastaet_novymi_territoriyami_i_vse_delo_v_volge/160575/ and casp-geo.ru/kaspijskij-region-prirastaet-territorialno/.
Developers are already making plans to develop new coastal housing, but more seriously, the governments of the three region and Moscow are being compelled to spend money on moving ports and transportation networks – or face the prospect that these areas will lose the sea connections they have profited from.
Perhaps the most serious development of the three is the change in the Volga delta in Astrakhan. As longstanding water routes dry up and more islands appear, the ability of Moscow to move cargo and ships of its Caspian Flotilla are further compromised, something that has both economic and geopolitical consequences.
At present, Russia lacks enough dredging equipment to keep up with these changes and may again as has been true in recent years have to turn to China for help, a move that would give Beijing additional leverage over Russian trade (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2022/03/in-move-with-profound-security.html).
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