[reisse]

Blaming Aral Sea disaster on USSR was/is mostly a PR stunt of post-Soviet Uzbekistan government. The largest part of the drying happened in 1990s and 2000s, because Uzbekistan was farming cotton and wheat in crazy amounts trying to offset massive imports in its new independent economy.

[ch4s3]

I think it’s hard to claim that things were sustainable and headed in a good direction before 1992, cotton farming notwithstanding.