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*Small hydropower plants threaten rivers in Armenia - environmentalists
(video)*
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/05/14/hek/
10:34 =95 14.05.13
Photo from the Ecomonitoring Armenia website
The Armenian environmentalists are concerned over the growing number of
small hydropower plants across the country.
They think that the plan for building 170 new plants in addition to the
existing 139 is too much for the water resources of a small country like
Armenia.
`We think that 139 is already too much. Yes, using the water resources is
good, but if such a use causes drainage of entire rivers, that naturally
gives rise to environmental and social problems, which we now eye-witness.
And the more this goes on, the more [problems] we will see,' Levon
Galstyan, a member of the Pan-Armenian Environmental Front, told Tert.am.
The first environmental protest in this series was the one against the
construction of hydropower plant near the Trchkan waterfall (which is
between the Shirak and Lori regions). The freshest example was the protest
in Marts village (Lori region), that saw the villagers throw huge
hydropower plant pipes into a gorge.
Speaking to Tert.am, Marts governor Robert Galstyan said the plant's owner
now wishes to talk to the village's population who are concerned over the
future of their meadowlands (which provide food to the cattle) and yards.
`The communities are against because if there is one hydropower plant on
the river, they have already seen the consequences, so the attempts for
building the second or third meet the community's resistance,' Galstyan
said, adding that there are now six or seven hydropower plants on the river.
The environmentalist noted that the state encourages the sector, offering
loans at low interest rates. He said licenses for the use of water
resources allow reducing the water level in rivers to an impermissible
minimum.
In a video material posted on the Ecolur environmental NGO's website, a
coordinator of the UN regional convention, Aram Gabrielyan, enumerated
small and big drained rivers, saying that they no longer exist.
Below we present footage by Yeghia Nersisyan, an environmentalist, who
shows the process of Chichkhan river's evaporation after supplying water
to
a hydropower plant.
Armenian News - Tert.am
From: Baghdasarian
(video)*
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/05/14/hek/
10:34 =95 14.05.13
Photo from the Ecomonitoring Armenia website
The Armenian environmentalists are concerned over the growing number of
small hydropower plants across the country.
They think that the plan for building 170 new plants in addition to the
existing 139 is too much for the water resources of a small country like
Armenia.
`We think that 139 is already too much. Yes, using the water resources is
good, but if such a use causes drainage of entire rivers, that naturally
gives rise to environmental and social problems, which we now eye-witness.
And the more this goes on, the more [problems] we will see,' Levon
Galstyan, a member of the Pan-Armenian Environmental Front, told Tert.am.
The first environmental protest in this series was the one against the
construction of hydropower plant near the Trchkan waterfall (which is
between the Shirak and Lori regions). The freshest example was the protest
in Marts village (Lori region), that saw the villagers throw huge
hydropower plant pipes into a gorge.
Speaking to Tert.am, Marts governor Robert Galstyan said the plant's owner
now wishes to talk to the village's population who are concerned over the
future of their meadowlands (which provide food to the cattle) and yards.
`The communities are against because if there is one hydropower plant on
the river, they have already seen the consequences, so the attempts for
building the second or third meet the community's resistance,' Galstyan
said, adding that there are now six or seven hydropower plants on the river.
The environmentalist noted that the state encourages the sector, offering
loans at low interest rates. He said licenses for the use of water
resources allow reducing the water level in rivers to an impermissible
minimum.
In a video material posted on the Ecolur environmental NGO's website, a
coordinator of the UN regional convention, Aram Gabrielyan, enumerated
small and big drained rivers, saying that they no longer exist.
Below we present footage by Yeghia Nersisyan, an environmentalist, who
shows the process of Chichkhan river's evaporation after supplying water
to
a hydropower plant.
Armenian News - Tert.am
From: Baghdasarian