EcoLur
“The schedule for increase in Lake Sevan level by 20 cm per year submitted to the Armenian President, it is not substantiated either scientifically or economically, and may have very serious consequences,” said Hakob Sanasaryan, Chairman of the Greens Union to EcoLur.
Reminder: the outgoing session of the Committee on Lake Sevan Issues at the Armenian President took place on 5 November 2009 where the issues needing urgent steps to be taken were considered, particularly:
• Lake Sevan level increase management and regulation schedule,
• the construction of illegal capital buildings on Lake Sevan shore,
• lake pollution by sewage and industrial wastes.
Some issues will be submitted to the Armenian Government already early in December.
Hakob Sanasaryan was concerned that the lake level increase is artificially slowed down at governmental level. He reminded that the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA already applied to the Scientific-Expert Committee on Lake Sevan Issues of National Academy of Sciences of RA in 2005 in order to slow down the level increase and it was said that fast increase already has serious economic and ecological consequences. “Today we observe the same at the Presidential Committee, and in my opinion, this committee should only have ensured the efficiency of issue solution regarding to Sevan, and most importantly, the issue of level increase and abolishment of illegal buildings from the shore,” Sanasaryan said.
To Hakob Sanasaryan’s mind, the schedule of 20 cm per year proposed at the Committee meeting changes the whole concept regarding efficient increase in lake level. “I strongly oppose with the Deputy Chairman of Expert Committee of NAS RA and Rafayel Hovhannisyan, the member of the Presidential Committee that fast increase in lake level is dangerous for the lake and scientifically not substantiated, as I think no new concepts for Lake Sevan increase have been proposed,” Sanasaryan said.
“In case the aforementioned schedule is adopted, the efficient reconstruction of Arpa-Sevan Tunnel becomes an inefficient task. Why to bring an additional amount of water into the lake, if the level increases faster than designed by the schedule? The exploitation of 11-km-long Vorotan Tunnel gets completely senseless,” Sanasaryan thinks and adds: “I want to remind those who have forgotten that the construction of Vorotan was completed under the hardest conditions of crisis for Armenia in order to save Sevan.”
He noted that such explanations as, for example, insufficient funds for shore cleaning are not well-grounded for the schedule. “As a matter of fact, these funds are just incorrectly managed,” Sanasaryan said. In order to substantiate what he said, Sanasaryan added, “At the meetings of Working Groups of the Committee time and again it was proposed to use the locals as labor force who would be paid with timber. Nevertheless, these proposals were not accepted.”
In Hakob Sanasaryan’s opinion, the most important thing has been overlooked: the level increase by 6 m is only the first stage after which Sevan ecosystem should be studied. If the parameters of the ecosystem do not comply with the accepted ones, the level increase must continue as admitted by 39 scientific-research institutes during the concept elaboration (Soviet Period).
Risks for Schedule Regulation:
1. The lake level increases due to increased precipitation. If the conditions become unfavorable, the schedule will deviate to its negative side. It will be impossible to follow them.
2. If there is some unstable situation in the country, Arpa-Sevan Tunnel from which more than 250 million cubic meters water can be redirected to Kechout Reservoir, may stop functioning because of insufficient funds. “We mustn’t forget that we live in an unstable region and unsteady circumstances that may require attracting all the funds available. The lake level should be increased right now, while it is possible,” Sanasaryan said.
3. Sanasaryan thinks that the actions of the Presidential Committee must comply with the term of president governance, and not 20 years (the term for lake level increase is estimated by 2031), and the presidential will on Lake Sevan issue solution initiated by the President is also estimated for his governance term.
4. Until last year it had been forbidden to construct capital buildings on Lake Sevan shore below 1908 m and this figure is made up as follows: the first is the level increase by 6 m, i.e. up to 1903,5 m and plus wave height of 4,5 m. The Ministry of Urban Development of RA made a proposal to the Armenian Government to change wave height in Sevan from 4,5 m to 1,5 m. In 2008 this decision was admitted by the Government. It should be noted, this proposal was approved twice by Aram Harutyunyan who held the position of Minister of Urban Development of RA in 2006 and the position of the Minister of Nature Protection of RA in 2008 up to now. Hakob Sanasaryan noted this Government decision on change in wave height uncharged all illegal buildings located between 1908 m and 1905 m.
Hakob Sanasaryan was concerned with the position the Committee holds in regard to the illegal constructions on Lake Sevan shore. “In the past the committee came to a unanimous opinion that these buildings should be made state. Then agreements of rent should be concluded, and when the water reaches these buildings, their abolishment takes place at the expense of illegal builders. Today the Committee has another viewpoint, under which, one should run negotiations with the illegal construction owner, only when water reaches its door.”
December 01, 2009