As compared to 2019, the volume of irrigation water has increased in 2020. If in the first half of last year, 187.5 million cubic meters of water was provided and 271 million cubic meters of water this year, as Karen Sargsyan, Chairman of Water Committee of RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, said this during a recent press conference, noting that the reason is the increase in land areas.
“Contracts have been signed with 114,500 water users. At the moment, 80,000 hectares of water is being irrigated. The land areas will increase by up to 5000 hectares. There are no cases initiated in cases of illegal water use. However, in the Water Committee we are trying to reveal the hidden hectares, which are not represented by the water users, we were able to reveal an area of approximately 500-700 hectares, which adds up as a debt to the water user," the chairman of the Water Committee said.
He noted that 19 million cubic meters more water was taken from Lake Sevan this year compared to the last year, but he noted that 20 million cubic meters more water flowed into Sevan through the Arpa-Sevan tunnel.
As an outcome of Irrigation System Modernization Program implemented by Armenia Territorial Development Fund (ATDF) of the Ministry of Territorial Administration of the Republic of Armenia, it is expected that 11.8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity will be saved annually in Armenia, exploitation expenses will be reduced annually by 300,000 million AMD, irrigable land areas will be increased by 10,500 ha, 8 pumping station will be taken out of operation, 64.2 km of canals will be rehabilitated, whereas the rehabilitated sections of in-house irrigation networks will reach 259.1 km. The number of beneficiaries of this project exceeds 115,000.
The total cost of the project is $ 50 million, out of which $ 40 million is a loan from the Eurasian Development Bank, and $ 10 million is co-financed by the Armenian government.
Photo Credit: Territorial Development Fund of Armenia
July 27, 2020 at 15:44