Armenia turned to UNESCO with a proposal to give Sevan status

ArmInfo. In 2019, the water withdrawal from Sevan Lake is significantly inferior to last year's volumes - as of today, by 15-20 million cubic meters. Nevertheless,  the presence of a number of factors continues to damage the lake's  ecosystem.

Such an opinion on July 4, in an interview with  journalists, was expressed by the Minister of the Environment Eric  Grigoryan, referring to the "flowering" of the lake.  According to  him, sewage and municipal waste continue to flow into Sevan, the  coastal forest requires cleaning. The work of restaurants and hotels  operating in coastal areas has a negative impact. One of the reasons  for flowering was also the unprecedented high temperature in June,  massive evaporation due to the wind.

Today, according to the minister, the main thing is to make a  diagnosis, to understand the root cause of the problem. The agency is  already counting which coastal area will have to be cleared.  According to Grigoryan, in 2-3 years the water level can be raised to  1901.5 cm. "We will reduce the water flow as much as possible. Now  the pump stations of the Ararat valley, which were launched only in  August, are operating at full capacity," the minister said.

Eric Grigoryan said that the Armenian side applied to UNESCO with a  proposal to give Sevan status, which, on the one hand, will allow for  measures to improve the quality of water in the lake, on the other -  will be an additional socio-economic incentive for the residents of  the region.

In March of this year the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported  that Sevan Lake is now at an altitude of 1900 meters 42 centimeters  above sea level, instead of last year's 1900 meters 46 centimeters.  According to environmentalists, the matter is that the bill adopted  in 2018, according to which water withdrawal from Sevan in 2018 was  increased by 40 million cubic meters - from 170 to 210 million cubic  meters, which led to a negative balance.