Ministry of nature protection conserves and closes 107 illegally operating artesian wells in Armenia

YEREVAN, October 27. / ARKA /. Armenia’s ministry of nature protection has conserved and closed a total of 107 illegally operating artesian wells, saving 11,333 liters of water per second, up from 243 litters of water per second saved in 2013, according to deputy minister of nature protection Khachik Hakobyan. 

Speaking at a news conference the deputy minister said on July 16 the minister ordered to set up a special working group to monitor over 200 artesian wells.

He said 63 of the closed or conserved artesian wells were run by fish farms, 8 by the Armenian Water and Sewerage Company and 36 by Yerevan Jur, a French company operating Yerevan’s drinking and waste water systems.

The illegal water users were fined a total of 6.4 million drams, said the deputy minister adding also that the ministry has started a large-scale inspection of Armenian Water and Sewerage Company and Yerevan Jur. The deputy minister also recalled a string of legislative changes enforced this year to improve the monitoring and control of artesian wells. 

He said the ministry is going to launch a pilot program designed for continuous monitoring at water intake points. 

"If the program is successful, we will extend it both to fish farms, communities and water consuming companies,” he said.

The Armenian government has allocated 71 million drams for the management of artesian basin in 2014 and 2015. The deputy minister said ‘until September 2015 we will have a complete concept of a plan how to effectively manage these resources." 

According to government figures, about 50% of underground water resources are concentrated in the Ararat artesian basin. Over the past decades numerous deep wells were dug there, many of which illegally. 

In 2013 July the government began charging for use of artesian water - 15 drams for a cubic meter of  deep water and 5 drams of surface water. Before that these waters were used illegally and for free.  According to government estimates, conservation of a well will require about 4 million drams. -0-