The "Past" daily writes that issues related to water resources have become quite urgent due to both war and climate problems in general. Inga Zarafyan, President of “EcoLur” Informational NGO says that the problems are various. "First of all, we are considered a water-scarce country, according to international institutions, we are ranked 34th in the list of over 160 countries. We have quite serious problems in this regard. Second, we have clean, high-quality water that we use and pollute mercilessly.
Although Lake Sevan water is very polluted now, if it is cleaned and not polluted, its quality even corresponds to the quality of drinking water. But, of course, now we can not talk about any kind of conformity, because it is polluted with sewage, besides, the rivers that pass through the mining areas, flow into Lake Sevan, bring with them elements of metal dioxide, pollute the lake with specific garbage, especially plastic garbage, which is killing Lake Sevan ecosystem. In addition, the treatment plants operate only by mechanical means,” Zarafyan said in her interview with the Fact.
She emphasizes that we are experiencing serious problems with rivers. "There are rivers that do not even reach the river, it is a consequence of poor management. Some of the rivers are used for small hydropower plants, it takes up a lot of space, the river stays mostly dry. People take water from different parts of the rivers for irrigation and even drinking water in an uncontrolled manner. The river simply does not reach the lake. For energy purposes, we use the springs, which are located in the catchment area of the river basin, at an altitude of about three thousand meters. River springs should not be used, it is prohibited by our legislation," our interviewee says.
The scarcity of water in Ararat Valley is a huge problem for us, the irrigation system should work perfectly there, while we know that the system is very worn out, there is a lot of water loss. In addition, the water is pumped to six or seven fish farms. In fact, the land there is losing its significance. The balance of the entire groundwater basin is disturbed. There is already a water famine in the upper part of Armavir Region," NGO president said.
She emphasizes that the main cause of chemical pollution of water resources, of course, is the mining industry and adds that this situation cannot be changed at once, very clear steps are needed, those who are guilty of water pollution, depriving people of the right to use water, must be held accountable.
July 28, 2021 at 16:13