The consequences of overexploitation of underground water resources of the Ararat Valley are as follows:
- Reduction of artesian pressure layer by 2 times
- Lowering the groundwater level by up to 17 meters
-
Ayghr Lake Drying Up
- Reduction of the output of the Metsamor River by 10-12 times
- As of 2016, reduction of water resources of the artesian basin by 170 million cubic meters
- Non-observance of water use priorities laid down in the Water Code regarding Ararat artesian basin
- Increased vulnerability to disasters because of the overuse of the water resource of the underground water basin of the Ararat Valley
The state of the Ararat artesian basin was presented in his interview with Ecolur by an expert, hydrologist Benyamin Zakaryan, who analyzed and evaluated the underground water basin of the Ararat Valley as a hydrologist for about 10 years within the framework of two project by US International Development Agency.
The first is "Clean Energy and Water" program, which was implemented in 2012-2015, and within its frameworks "Assessment of underground water resources of the Ararat Valley" report was drafted.
The other is Advanced Science and Partnerships for Integrated Resource Development (ASPIRED) Project. The underground water basin of the Ararat Valley is also affected by climate change. According to the expert, the water resources in the Ararat valley basin have decreased by 10-15 percent over the last 30 years because of climate change. "According to climate forecasts, the water reserves in the Ararat valley basin will be reduced by 30-40 percent in the average scenario, and by 50-60 percent in the worst scenario by 2100," Benyamin Zakaryan noted.
According to him, the largest water intake in the underground water basin of the Ararat Valley is fish farming. In 2016, the use of water in the Ararat Valley made up 2,089,92 million cubic meters, out of which 840,48 million cubic meters were used only for fish farming, and out of which 809,1 million cubic meters came from underground water use.
Benyamin Zakaryan has his suggestions to alleviate this situation:
- From the amount of water removed from the fish farms to the Hrazdan River, it is possible to make an additional 95 million cubic meters of water and irrigate about 1,500 hectares of land.
- From the amount of water removed from the fish farms to the Metsamor River, it is possible to take 25 million cubic meters of additional water in the Ranchpar-Sis-Noromarg – Armenian border area and irrigate about 700 hectares of land.
- It is possible to collect 230 million cubic meters of water from the collector-drainage network, mainly from the Hrazdan-Araks collector, by gravity and pumps and use it for irrigation of land.
He also emphasized that the overuse of the water resources of the Ararat valley underground water resource increases the vulnerability to disasters.
"As a result of overuse of water resources, we have a lowering of the level of the underground water basin, lowering of pressures, subsidence of soil cover. In the case of an earthquake, this can cause an artificial increase in intensity by 2-3 points. As the space between the rocks is emptied due to the overuse of water from the underground reservoir, and the earth's crust becomes unstable in those areas, there are places where the soil settles," the expert outlined.
This article has been prepared with the financial support of the Center for Media Initiatives within the framework of "Expanding Creation of Independent Media Content" grant project.
July 29, 2024 at 14:19