38 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



This ancient canal system was destroyed by Ghengis Kabn and the valley 

 was consequently depopulated. It was rebuilt by a grandson of Tamerlane 

 in the Fifteenth Century. 



In 1799 the system as rebuilt was destroyed by the Emir of Bokhara, 

 and the valley was again depopulated and reverted to desert. 



After the conquest of Turkestan by the Russian Government, the valley 

 was added to the Emperor's Estate and in the 3'ears 1887, 1888 and 1889, the 

 dam at Sultan Bend was rebuilt for the Emperor by the engineer Kosel- 

 Poklevsky, a Polish revolutionist, who" had been banished to Siberia, served 

 his term and came to Byram All. He made brick and hydraulic lime on the 

 ground, of which he built the dam, upon a foundation of loess, which was 

 recognized as unsuitable for a high dam. 



To guard against accident, he built three dams so situated as each to 

 stand one-third of the head. The lower two had no gates; the upper one had 

 gates. All these dams were built in the dry, at one side of the river. 



After their completion, a dam was built in the river channel of fascenes, 

 earth and rock, and the water accumulated behind during the low water 

 season. As it was closed, the bank was cut above the three dams to allow it 

 to pass through the gates therein provided, but instead of doing so, it cut a 

 new channel leaving the dams high and dry. 



In 1895, an engineer named Andreyeff was employed by the Estate to 

 build a dam at Hindu-Kush where a power plant is located, which uses for 

 power the water that runs down the river to Merv, to satisfy prior rights. 

 The power is transmitted to Byram Ali, and used for lighting and running 

 the cotton machinery. The capacity of this reservoir is 10,000 acre feet. There 

 are three valley reservoirs with a combined capacity of 23,000 acre feet. 



The canal system from the Hindu-Kush Reservoir was built by Von- 

 Valueff. The main canal was 17 miles in length and is called the Tzar 

 Canal. It has a capacity of 500 cubic feet per second and irrigates 5,000 

 acres of cotton and 7,000 acres of wheat and barlev. 



In April and May, 1903, came great floods which filled the Hindu-Kush 

 Reservoir with sediment. 



In 1910, Von Valueff built the Sultan Bend and Yolatan Reservoir. Thesm 

 are 12 versts apart. Yolatan Reservoir holds 55,000 acre feet and backs water 

 to Sultan Bend, which is located at the head of the valley, near the site of 

 the original dam built by the Sultan Sanjar in the Twelfth Century. 



Most of the structures are built of brick and are very heavy and sub- 

 stantial. 



Sultan Bend Reservoir backs water 40 versts and has a capacity of 55,000 

 acre feet. 



The total storage capacity on the Emperor's Estate is about 140,000 

 acre feet, but this will rapidly decrease with accretion of sediment. 



Canal Sultan Yab leads from Sultan Bend Reservoir and is on the same 

 location as the oldest known canal. It has a capacity of 800 cubic feet per 

 second. 



The total diversion capacity of the system is about 1,500 cubic feet per 

 second, and serves about 00,000 acres of land. 



