The plot is based on events that took place during the severe drought of the early 1970s at the construction of the Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Station. The commissioning of the station's first phase was complicated by the fact that the water needed to start it was also desperately needed by the parched fields. There were many debates (with both personal and professional ambitions involved), and in the end, the problem was solved purely mathematically—rather than by agricultural engineering: salty water from the Kyrgyz Sea was diverted to the fields, while clean mountain river water was directed to the first turbines.