Drought Drying Up Mongolia’s Main River

Mongolia’s Tuul River threatened by persistent drought

The 700-km Tuul River supplies water to Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital, where more than half of Mongolia’s population live, and is now drying up due to ongoing severe drought in the country.

Original caption: Photo taken on April 24, 2012, shows the dry river bed of Tuul River in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. The Tuul River has partly dried up recently owing to drought, affecting the water supply of Ulan Bator, where near a half of the country’s population live. (Xinhua/Huang Longjie) 

The river, which is considered sacred by Mongols, originates in the Khentii Mountains and runs through the southern part of the capital.

Tuul has also been plagued by pollution including leaks from the capital’s sewage treatment facility and runoffs from gold mining.

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