CREDIT: DOMINIC BRACCO II..SLUG:PRJ/KAZAKHSTAN..DATE:11/1/2009..CAPTION:Gaziz Yeleusizov, 22 of Aralsk, lights two cigarettes while fishing on the Aral Sea on November 1, 2009.  ..Aral Sea Overview: ..During the 1960s the USSR began irrigating the waters of the Aral Sea in southern Kazakhstan to combat their growing food crisis. The Soviets severely miscalculated and water began receding quickly from the port cities. The waters continued to recede. By 2000 the water was 80 km away from the city of Aralsk, a main seaport in Kazakhstan. In 2005 with help from the World Bank, construction began on a 13km dike that locals hoped would bring the waters back to their original shores. The project raised water quality and fishing was able to resume, however four years after completion of the dike the water is still 50km from Aralsk's port. Locals seem mixed on the possibility of the sea returning after more than 40 years without the sea. Fishermen from Aralsk make a three-hour path through soft desert road along the former seabed. The only source of income for many is cattle, horses, and camels, which have, began to overgraze the areas of the former seabed and surrounding desert. Because of this nutrient rich topsoil is lifted by the wind and the process of desertification continues.  .
{}