The Aghnja River has dried up in the area of Aygedzor village, Tavush Region. The reason is the water intake for irrigation and hydroelectric power plants. The Aygedzor canal draws water from the Aghnja River from the point of joining with the Khndzorut River, whereas "Aygedzor" SHPP operates on the canal.
According to Aygedzor residents, the irrigation season in Aygedzor village lasts 7-8 months, while SHPP does not work for 2-3 months at best, thus hindering agricultural work.
Due to the scarcity of irrigation water, some of the orchards have already dried up. In addition, the natural flow of rivers and springs has been significantly reduced in recent years. The Aygedzor residents raised these issues during the recent public discussion organized by Atlas-Plus LLC for the construction of a new SHPP in the village. Despite the assurances by the representative of Atlas-Plus LLC that the irrigation system will not suffer from the new water intake and their promises on the readiness to support the village, most of the residents participating in the discussion strongly opposed the construction of the SHPP.
The nature of Aygedzor, forest-covered mountains and valleys, the rivers and streams, the springs and the beautiful river valleys have a great potential for providing eco-services. Tourism is developing in the village, taking into account the rich local nature and historical and cultural monuments, ancient castles and monasteries. Thousands of farmers have planted thousands of square meters of fig, pineapple, apple, peach, cherry orchards and berry plantations to meet their market demand and grow their own businesses and a huge amount of water is needed for their irrigation.
Aygedzor residents fear that as the river dries up and the irrigation water runs out, the area of uncultivated land will increase because of the lack of irrigation water.
The number of people leaving the village will increase, and another village of strategic importance will die, as a result of the degradation of the environment and nature, the village will lose its attractiveness, the number of holiday makers will decrease, the development of ecotourism will become unfeasible, investments by sponsors will decrease, staying in the village and working there will become not prospective, the number of people leaving the village will increase.
Fhoto And Video Credit: Aygedzor FB Page
July 03, 2020 at 16:13