Epress.am News from Armenia
The 21st century should be the fight for fresh water: the world’s population is increasing, while natural resources are diminishing, Vladimir Movsisyan, chair of the president-affiliated Lake Sevan Issues Committee, told reporters in the Armenian capital today.
“Each of us must realize that natural resources must be used properly, so that future generations can make use of the supply. There have been 43 large-scale projects developed and presented to the Armenian president, and by a special government decision, 43 billion drams [approx. $112.1 million USD] has been alloted for implementing these projects,” he said.
According to Movsisyan, these projects pursue three goals.
“They are raising the level of the lake, ensuring clean water in the lake and protecting biodiversity. If these issues are resolved partially or incompletely, there can’t be a positive shift in the ecosystem,” he said.
Referring to these issues, Movsisyan noted that in 1993–2002, the level of Lake Sevan dropped by 19 m, 30 cm, while in the last 10 years, it was raised by 3 m 82 cm.
“Compared to last year, this year’s figure has increased by 24 cm. The 6m increase set by law is already a reality: we already have 3 m 82 cm and in the set schedule, by 2030, as a result of a gradual increase in the level of the lake, we will have the 6m increase. There’s been a significant reduction in the amount of irrigation water released,” he said.
As for cleaning the water in the lake, Movsisyan recalled that in this sense the results are more modest. Wastewater treatment plants will be utilized and placed in municipalities discharging wastewater into the Lake Sevan catchement basin — Gavar, Martuni, Vardenis.
“If as a consequence of raising the lake’s level, 528 structures were submerged, well currently, 345 of these have been dismantled and moved. This process will continue and in general,… 4,717 structures will be submerged as a result: fortunately, 87% of these are portable structures. There isn’t the certain amount of disarray today in terms of quality related to forest clearance in the past — 295 hectares of forest has been cleared. Three pumping stations were moved, the 2.2 km of the Ljashen road transfer was completed and there are no more submerged areas in terms of roads,” he said.
Movsisyan added, if in 2008, the water transparency was 4–5 meters, well this year it’s 8–11 meters, which is a great indicator in terms of cleanliness.
On the matter of the lake’s biodiversity, Movsisyan said that several issues have accumulated in this one issue and there’s still much to be done.
“This year, 367,000 fry were introduced into the lake; fortunately, a significant increase in two types of Ishkhan fish was recorded. What’s painful is that we have this outcome as a result of artificial reproduction. In terms of natural reproduction, we have no positive shift and this is the greatest drawback,” he said.