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ARMENIA WORRIES OVER GROUNDWATER DEPLETION
By Galust Nanyan
Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR
CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 562
Oct 19 2010
UK
Concerns that fish farms could deprive agricultural land of irrigation.
Armenia's government is worried that the growth in fish farming in
the Ararat valley could use up the country's precious groundwater.
Armenia's largest valley is home to 234 fish farms, which use 800
million cubic metres of water a year. This is a huge volume of water
for a landlocked country, which only permits an annual limit of 170
million m3 to be pumped out of Lake Sevan for irrigation.
Worried residents of the Ararat valley, which sits above 60 per cent
of the country's 2.4 billion m3 of underground water reserves, say the
farms could cause pollution of groundwater and deprive agricultural
land of irrigation.
Some farmers say they have lost their only sources of water for their
crops since fish farmers began digging down to 150 m, rather than
the previous depth of 110 m, to access water.
"In the last two or three years water reserves in the Ararat valley
have significantly fallen, and this has become a problem. Water
in the Ararat valley is not only used for fish farming, but for
drinking and for irrigation. We need to find a way to prevent
the ruthless exploitation of the water reserves, which would cause
serious consequences," said Armen Gevorgyan, minister for territorial
administration, and chairman of a special government commission set
up to investigate the issue.
The commission's report painted a picture of an almost-unregulated
industry. It said that only 27 of the 87 fish farms in the Ararat
region's half of the valley had the correct paperwork, with the rest
being classified as agricultural or industrial enterprises, while none
of the 147 that fall within the Armavir region had the right license.
Also, none of the fish farms had water meters, or used systems intended
to maximise their water efficiency. On top of that, 109 fish farms
lacked the correct drainage systems.
Experts say that fish farms, instead of using the water multiple
times, just discard it after one use, pouring it into rivers or drains
for disposal.
"The drainage systems which carry rain and groundwater are wearing
out in those regions where there are a lot of fish farms," said Vova
Tadevosyan, director of Meloratsiya, a state committee on water use,
who argues that the fish farms risk turning the valley into a desert.
Experts argue that the environment ministry has not done enough to
prevent the digging of deep wells. Sanasar Baghdasaryan, head of the
environment section in the Armavir region administration's agriculture
department, said that a local investigation as far back as 2007 showed
that the wells were being dug too deeply.
"Drilling is being conducted without basic checks, therefore in some
areas of 10,000 m2, up to seven wells are operating. The digging of
wells and their use is not being controlled," he said.
An official of the environment ministry's water department, who asked
not to be named because he was criticising his own department, agreed
that there were too many wells and worried that no checks were being
made on their use.
"A few years ago we were giving out permission on water use right
and left. Sadly, we don't even now know the quantity of our national
water reserves, which were last measured 20 to 25 years ago. We are
treating our water reserves very badly," the official said.
Such licenses have massively increased the amount of groundwater used
in the country. In 1984, the authorities said that 1.25 m3 could be
extracted from underground sources every year. Currently, license
holders have the right to extract 2.75 billion m3, more than twice
the level set by the old Soviet authorities.
The environment ministry declined to comment on these figures, but the
issue is beginning to gain prominence among the public. At the start
of the 1990s, the village of Hayanist had 80 wells, but 61 of them
have since run dry, worrying residents dependent on them for water.
"If they drilled another 20 m, then the water would be good quality
and the well would not be dry. But what have they done? A few years
ago, a fish farm was opened not far from our region and their wells
pump out water," a resident said.
"Those who build these pools are rich, and they have four wells instead
of one. Whatever we do, we'll lose anyway," one of his neighbours said.
In the neighbouring village of Hovtashat, residents have the same
problem. In the 1990s, the received 4.5 m3 of water a second from
their 98 wells, but now they only get 2.5 m3 and 40 of the wells have
gone dry.
"The owners of the fish farms are using groundwater ruthlessly, and
their waste flows into the drainage system. As a result, the ground
is too dry and suffers from salinisation. Concurrently, because of
the unrestrained use of groundwater, our reserves are falling, and
some wells have completely dried up," Simon Andreasyan, head of the
village council, said.
Galust Nanyan is a freelance journalist.
From: A. Papazian
By Galust Nanyan
Institute for War and Peace Reporting IWPR
CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 562
Oct 19 2010
UK
Concerns that fish farms could deprive agricultural land of irrigation.
Armenia's government is worried that the growth in fish farming in
the Ararat valley could use up the country's precious groundwater.
Armenia's largest valley is home to 234 fish farms, which use 800
million cubic metres of water a year. This is a huge volume of water
for a landlocked country, which only permits an annual limit of 170
million m3 to be pumped out of Lake Sevan for irrigation.
Worried residents of the Ararat valley, which sits above 60 per cent
of the country's 2.4 billion m3 of underground water reserves, say the
farms could cause pollution of groundwater and deprive agricultural
land of irrigation.
Some farmers say they have lost their only sources of water for their
crops since fish farmers began digging down to 150 m, rather than
the previous depth of 110 m, to access water.
"In the last two or three years water reserves in the Ararat valley
have significantly fallen, and this has become a problem. Water
in the Ararat valley is not only used for fish farming, but for
drinking and for irrigation. We need to find a way to prevent
the ruthless exploitation of the water reserves, which would cause
serious consequences," said Armen Gevorgyan, minister for territorial
administration, and chairman of a special government commission set
up to investigate the issue.
The commission's report painted a picture of an almost-unregulated
industry. It said that only 27 of the 87 fish farms in the Ararat
region's half of the valley had the correct paperwork, with the rest
being classified as agricultural or industrial enterprises, while none
of the 147 that fall within the Armavir region had the right license.
Also, none of the fish farms had water meters, or used systems intended
to maximise their water efficiency. On top of that, 109 fish farms
lacked the correct drainage systems.
Experts say that fish farms, instead of using the water multiple
times, just discard it after one use, pouring it into rivers or drains
for disposal.
"The drainage systems which carry rain and groundwater are wearing
out in those regions where there are a lot of fish farms," said Vova
Tadevosyan, director of Meloratsiya, a state committee on water use,
who argues that the fish farms risk turning the valley into a desert.
Experts argue that the environment ministry has not done enough to
prevent the digging of deep wells. Sanasar Baghdasaryan, head of the
environment section in the Armavir region administration's agriculture
department, said that a local investigation as far back as 2007 showed
that the wells were being dug too deeply.
"Drilling is being conducted without basic checks, therefore in some
areas of 10,000 m2, up to seven wells are operating. The digging of
wells and their use is not being controlled," he said.
An official of the environment ministry's water department, who asked
not to be named because he was criticising his own department, agreed
that there were too many wells and worried that no checks were being
made on their use.
"A few years ago we were giving out permission on water use right
and left. Sadly, we don't even now know the quantity of our national
water reserves, which were last measured 20 to 25 years ago. We are
treating our water reserves very badly," the official said.
Such licenses have massively increased the amount of groundwater used
in the country. In 1984, the authorities said that 1.25 m3 could be
extracted from underground sources every year. Currently, license
holders have the right to extract 2.75 billion m3, more than twice
the level set by the old Soviet authorities.
The environment ministry declined to comment on these figures, but the
issue is beginning to gain prominence among the public. At the start
of the 1990s, the village of Hayanist had 80 wells, but 61 of them
have since run dry, worrying residents dependent on them for water.
"If they drilled another 20 m, then the water would be good quality
and the well would not be dry. But what have they done? A few years
ago, a fish farm was opened not far from our region and their wells
pump out water," a resident said.
"Those who build these pools are rich, and they have four wells instead
of one. Whatever we do, we'll lose anyway," one of his neighbours said.
In the neighbouring village of Hovtashat, residents have the same
problem. In the 1990s, the received 4.5 m3 of water a second from
their 98 wells, but now they only get 2.5 m3 and 40 of the wells have
gone dry.
"The owners of the fish farms are using groundwater ruthlessly, and
their waste flows into the drainage system. As a result, the ground
is too dry and suffers from salinisation. Concurrently, because of
the unrestrained use of groundwater, our reserves are falling, and
some wells have completely dried up," Simon Andreasyan, head of the
village council, said.
Galust Nanyan is a freelance journalist.
From: A. Papazian