Water

From 1 January 2010 81 small HHPS will be operating in Armenia and their total capacity will make up approximately 101 MV and they will produce about 357 million KW/h electricity.

If small HPPs don’t have an automatic control system, the river potential is used by 15-20% less and electricity produced is respectively less. This statement was made by Grigor Gabayan, Head of “HydroEnergy” CJSC.

“We propose to carry out a joint examination of the existing small HHPs in the form of public monitoring as a first step to share the anxiety of NGOs and to determine our further steps and actions on the basis of these results,” says the letter of the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA numbered 5/04.1/1583.09 addressed to EcoLur Informational NGO.

The activity of small hydro power plants in Armenia causes more and more concern. First of all, this concern arises in regard to the disturbance of water balance in river, secondly, fish species spawning in the river estuary, and thirdly, decrease in irrigation water supply to village communities whose land areas are located on the spot of water collection for HPPs.

The State Hygienic and Antiepidemic Inspection of Aragatsotn Marz advised that the water in the region is not being chlorinated and poses real danger for the outbreak of intestinal infectious diseases.

Already several years so called environmental water outlet, i.e. to give water to HPP or river, is the main axis for disputes between environmentalists and power engineering specialists. Environmental outlet is the volume of water that remains in river as prescribed, whereas the rest water is passed to HPP.

The protocols signed between Armenia and Turkey contains a point on establishing an environmental committee. Is there any necessity to establish such a committee or it’s just a formal line? If such a committee is to be established, what kind of environmental issues will be dealt with by Armenian and Turkish specialists?

Of 31 communities in Tumanyan Region none has a normal trash dump. The community halls gather household garbage wherever they want.

Sotq village is a community where the richest reserves in Armenia are located. GeoProMining Company represented by its subsidiary GPM Gold Company rented 950 ha of the village administrative territory and possesses the concession for the exploitation of Sotq gold deposit. The company obtained the concession together with Ararat Gold Recovery Factory from Indian “Vedanta Recourses” Company in 2007.

Let’s refer to ecological threats that present small hydropower stations to be constructed on the rivers falling into Lake Sevan. In 2009 the Ministry of Nature Protection of RA was submitted several projects for small hydropower stations, including 2 hydropower stations on the Vardenik River, one hydropower station for Ayrq, Avazan and Getik Rivers each (Gegharkunik Marz), as well as small hydropower stations on Debed and Arpa Rivers.

About 300 families live in Sotq community of 5000 ha. The flow of refuges has increased since 1988. 750 households were registered in the community until 1993. However, after a while, most refugees did not put up with heavy economic and climatic conditions, such as cold winters and left the community. Today you can see derelict houses at every turn.

The "unusual beast-mutant" of the Debed River was an otter, Director of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Armenia Office Karen Manvelian said during a talk with representatives of EcoLur NGO.

Armenia may, at short notice, refuse from the Soviet system of quality assessment of surface water and pass on to European methodology. In June of 2008 the EU project “Transboundary River Management Phase II for the Kura River Basin - Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan” started its activity.

For the last two years the Debed River regularly acquires ash grey color. Gardeners complain that their trees wither due to the water saturated with heavy metals.

Every summer passing by Yerevan Lake breathing in the stink has become an ordinary phenomenon. Stagnation processes in the lake, more precisely in this artificial reservoir, begin every summer parallel to the temperature increase.

Ghazanchi villagers in Shirak Marz threaten to block the inter-state highway, if no measures are taken towards the solution of their drinking water problem.

The hot line of Lori Marz sent two alert signals in regard to the situation with drinking water in Shnogh Village.

So filled with household trash is the Kasakh River, that one really can’t tell if the waters are flowing at all. Mr. Hayk Haykyan, an assistant to the Agricultural Minister, confesses that he can’t remember when the river was last cleaned.