Management of hydroengineering and land-reclamation works in the colonized areas of Western Siberia in late 19th early 20th centuries

The article deals with the research in one of the main directions of land-reclamation aid for the resettlers in the late 19th early 20th centuries. This aspect of the resettlement policy of the state has never been the object of a special study; it is a lacuna which has only been considered superficially. The author examines the main directions of hydraulic works at the resettlement sites, shows their importance for the conversion of scarcely convenient plots into the suitable ones for the resettlers. The article is based on a wide range of previously unpublished materials extracted by the author from five regional and central archives. It is proved that the beginning of hydraulic works was due to the expansion of land subdivision works during the operation period of the Siberian railway, when the works of subdivision of the resettlement sites were going deep into the little explored regions of Siberia, far from the populated strip into taiga and steppe. Part of the plots allocated to the new settlers, especially in steppe areas, were located away from natural water sources (rivers, lakes, streams, etc.), making these areas unattractive for the resettlers. In addition, due to the increasing flow of the resettlers, the issue of drainage of some wetlands in Western Siberia became urgent to make millions of acres of vacant land suitable for agriculture. The author objectively reveals the drawbacks of the engineering works the lack of specialists in hydraulic engineering, lack of funds leading to the lag of hydraulic and reclamation works behind the works of plotting out the area. During the Stolypin resettlement the allocations of state funds for hydro-engineering aid for the resettlers increased greatly; the increase of allocations continued even after 1910, when the number of farmers moving to Siberia decreased. Based on the analysis of archival documents the author proves that hydraulic works in the colonized areas were not stopped at the difficult period of the First World War, when the state, despite the inflation and the wartime difficulties, continued to finance the construction of wells and water reservoirs in the resettlement sites. The hydraulic engineering activities resulted in the conversion of millions of scarcely convenient dessiatinas into lands good for agriculture, in settlement of hundreds of plots, in emergence of new villages in the previously sparsely populated and unpopulated areas of Siberia.

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