5/ Before the dam and canals were built, the Azov region was very arid. Average annual rainfall is 350 mm with evaporation of 1000-1100 mm. Two Russian attempts to invade Crimea via the Azov region failed in 1687 and 1689 for lack of water.
Northern Crimea was even less hospitable – a hot, arid, dusty plain with frequent droughts, dust storms and crop failures. The native Crimean Tatars scraped a living with subsistence agriculture and the production of crafts, rather than crops.