The Transcaspian Canal (Russian: Транскаспийский канал) was a proposed canal to divert the Amu Darya River from the Aral Sea and into the Caspian Sea. It was first proposed by Tsarist engineers and later considered by Soviet officials. Proponents argued that the project would return the Amu Darya into its supposed old bed.
Several other similar proposals were made in the early 20th century, including a Kazakh-Turkestan Canal to connect Kazakhstan with the Black Sea.[1] The projects were not seriously considered after the late-1920s, when a campaign was launched to ridicule "fantastic" hydraulic projects.[2] In 1928, over a dozen hydraulic engineers operating in Central Asia were tried for mismanaging the irrigation system and "devising intentionally fantastic projects".[3]