Armenian parliament okays additional release of irrigation water from Lake Sevan
YEREVAN, August 17. /ARKA/. By a vote of 65 to 18, the Armenian parliament has approved today the additional release of water from the country’s largest Lake Sevan for irrigational purposes.
According to the Armenian law, only 170 million cubic meters of water can be pumped out from the lake for irrigation. This volume is to be increased to 245 million cubic meters this year.
The additional release of water was objected by the opposition. Artsvik Minasyan from Hayastan (Armenia) alliance warned about the negative consequences of this decision from an environmental point of view.
"Our faction will vote against this decision, but this decision is not against Armenia’s agriculture, but against the government," he said during the debates.
Minasyan argued that the Ministry of the Environment cannot and should not advocate any additional release of water.
In May 2021, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced ‘sensational; news, saying that in June-July 2021, Lake Sevan would rise to the highest level in the last 60 years. This, as Pashinyan said, was the result of effective management of the country’s water resources.
According to the government, the additional release is to partially mitigate the deficit of irrigation water, due to droughts. As of August 1 of this year, there were 226.21 million cubic meters of water in the country’s largest water reservoirs, which was 125.77 million cubic meters less than on August 1, 2020.
According to the current legislation, the annual permitted volume of water release from Lake Sevan is 170 million cubic meters. In 2017, due to dry weather the volume was increased by 100 million cubic meters. In 2018, the parliament approved release of water up to 210 million cubic meters. In 2020, the volume of release did not exceed the permitted limit.
Lake Sevan is the main source of drinking water in the region, one of the largest alpine lakes in Europe and Asia, located in the heart of the Armenian Highlands, at an altitude of 1914 meters.
It is fed by 28 rivers and streams. The only river that originates from it is Hrazdan. Lake Sevan has significant economic, cultural, and recreational value. Its only island (now a peninsula) is home to a medieval monastery. -0
