In 2021, it is planned to draw an additional 75 million cubic meters of water from Lake Sevan, as RA Acting Environment Minister Romanos Petrosyan said on July 26 during "Interview with Astghik Sargsyan" program on Public TV. It should be noted that this year the maximum water intake from Lake Sevan is 170 million cubic meters. 137,392 million cubic meters of water have already been released from the lake. The level of the lake is 1900.73 m as of July 27, which is 3 cm lower than the same day last year.
"Based on the forecasts, I can say that we will need an additional 55-75 million cubic meters of water by the end of the irrigation season. We consulted with the interdepartmental committee, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure should already take the initiative to make amendments to the law based on the fact of water scarcity, as well as on the basis of the arguments and forecasts given by our ministry. We will pass a bill to the Government, then to the National Assembly, which will allow us to draw up to 75 million water intakes from Lake Sevan," Romanos Petrosyan said in his speech.
The question arises as to what percentage of the additional water intake will reach the villagers, considering that 70-80% of the water released from Lake Sevan is lost in Sevan-Hrazdan system. Various programs are being implemented to preserve Lake Sevan ecosystem, but one of the most important problems is minimizing water loss for decades.
July 27, 2021 at 18:40