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Setback For Armenia's Lake Sevan

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  • Setback For Armenia's Lake Sevan

    SETBACK FOR ARMENIA'S LAKE SEVAN
    By Arpi Harutyunyan

    Environment News Service
    http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2012/2012-07-16-01.html
    July 17 2012

    YEREVAN, Armenia, July 16, 2012 (ENS) - Armenia's parliament has
    ignored objections from environmentalists and gone ahead with changes
    to the law that will double the amount of water drawn off from Lake
    Sevan, the largest freshwater resource in the Caucasus region.

    The change is a setback for a long-term project to raise the lake's
    waters back to levels last seen in the 1950s, when industrial
    development started depleting the lake.

    Lake Sevan, Armenia (Photo by sidvim136) Officials say it is essential
    to increase the annual volume of water taken from Lake Sevan from
    170 to 320 million cubic meters a year to counter a drought in the
    agriculturally important Ararat Valley.

    "The Ararat Valley is under threat," Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
    told a June 14 government meeting. "If we want to secure a decent
    supply of irrigation water, then we are forced to take these measures,
    in order to ensure that this area of 40,000 hectares is not left
    un-irrigated."

    Andranik Andreasyan, head of the State Committee for Water Management,
    said the drought had been severe, and reservoirs around the country
    were running low. The volume of water in the Aparan reservoir, for
    example, was now just a third of last year's level.

    Yuri Javadyan, deputy head of a special presidential commission for
    Lake Sevan, said limited snowfalls over the winter means there is
    not enough meltwater feeding the rivers.

    Parliament passed the bill by 93 votes to 12, overruling objections
    from opposition members worried for the future of Lake Sevan.

    Environmentalists dispute the argument that Armenia is suffering
    from drought.

    "This bill was adopted without public discussion," said Inga Zarafyan
    of the Ecolur group. "Climatic conditions this year aren't much
    different from previous years."

    According to Knarik Hovhannisyan of the Environmental Public Alliance,
    "There's a lot of grass and mushrooms this year. That doesn't happen
    in drought conditions, which means this explanation is groundless."

    Lake Sevan fell by a meter a year from 1949, when schemes to channel
    off water started operating, and the pace increased after Armenia
    became independent in 1991.

    Home on the shore of Lake Sevan (Photo by Dr. Anto Youssef) After 2002,
    however, the trend was reversed thanks to a World Bank-backed program,
    and water levels have risen by more than four meters since then. The
    plan is to achieve an annual rise of 20 centimeters until the ideal
    level is reached within 30 years.

    However, official estimates suggest the rising waters will flood roads
    running alongside the lake, and dozens of lakeside homes - many of
    them owned by senior members of Armenia's political and business elite.

    That, say some environmentalists, is the real reason for draining
    off water - the drought is just a pretext to prevent rising waters
    inundating top officials' holiday homes.

    "Since most of these properties belong to oligarchs and officials,
    the government is doing everything it can to stop them being flooded,"
    said Hakob Sanasaryan, chairman of the Union of Greens of Armenia.

    Environmentalist groups say that if the planned volume of water is
    drawn from Lake Sevan this year, the water level will fall by 11
    centimeters, endangering fish species by interrupting their breeding
    cycle.

    Mher Mkrtumyan, head of the financial department at the government's
    water management agency, denied that the decline would be a steep
    as suggested.

    "We're only talking about two or three centimeters," he said.

    {Arpi Harutyunyan is a reporter for Armnews TV. Her report was
    originally published on July 16, 2012 by the Institute for War and
    Peace Reporting.}

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