ArmInfo.In 2019, compared with 2018, water withdrawal from Lake Sevan turned out to be below the threshold established by law of 170 million cubic meters - up to 140 million cubic meters. Armenian Minister of Nature Protection Erik Grigoryan stated this in an interview with reporters on October 17 after a government meeting.
So, according to the Minister in 2018, the water intake from Lake Sevan exceeded the threshold established by law by 30 million cubic meters. In the current year, despite the demand for water in the amount of 170 million cubic meters, thanks to the coordinated work of government departments, it was possible to reduce water releases by the same 30 million cubic meters.
At the same time, as Grigoryan pointed out, in 2019 there was less rainfall and more evaporation of water from the lake. "That is, if today we fix the water level of Lake Sevan by 4-5 cm more than last year, then if more favorable conditions were provided, we would have recorded an increase of more than 15 cm," the Minister explained.
To recall, on June 6, the government decided that in 2019 water releases from Lake Sevan will not exceed 170 million cubic meters. According to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia Suren Papikyan, the need for water intake from Lake Sevan is due to the need to irrigate 32 thousand hectares of agricultural land in the Armavir, Ararat, Kotayk and Aragatsotn regions of the republic. The reservoirs of the republic, as the minister noted, are full, but they are out of the reach of the above areas. The Office will do everything in its power to exclude additional water withdrawals. RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that 170 million cubic meters fit into the volumes stipulated by the current legislation of the country. Nevertheless, as the head of government emphasized, it is necessary to use the lake's waters as efficiently as possible in order to prevent additional releases, even despite the expected heat.