Expert: Armenia`s new water legislation should provide for  alternative sources of water production

ArmInfo.The Ministry of Environment of Armenia sees the need to revise the RA Water Code. In particular, it is reported that soon the department will come up with  a new bill to amend the Water Code of the Republic of Armenia, which  will be comprehensive and consistent with international standards.  Moreover, in this regard, it is planned to create a working group  whose activities will be to identify existing legislative problems  and propose new legal norms.

According to the information of the ministry, the head of the  environmental department Romanos Petrosyan instructed the heads of  departments and relevant divisions, before sending the bill to the  government, in a short time, to make an inventory of the problems,  and to present their views and proposals. He noted that the latter  should be in the context of overcoming the existing challenges with  scientific justification and balancing the interests of business  entities and representatives of environmental circles.

In a telephone conversation with an ArmInfo correspondent, the press  secretary of the Ministry of the Environment Edgar Arakelyan  explained that there are numerous problems in the field of water  resources management, ranging from granting licenses to water users,  ending with the smallest issues. He noted that the entire system  needs to create a legislative framework.

Knarik Hovhannisyan, a well-known ecologist of Armenia, a specialist  in water resources, also expressed his assessment of water  legislation in an interview with ArmInfo correspondent. She said that  back in 2002 she took part in the development of water legislation,  the application of which would allow solving the existing systemic  problems in the water sector of Armenia. However, this draft law was  changed by the invited "experts" who, according to Ms. Hovhannisyan,  did not have the necessary competence, and purely worked off the  funds received.

Having familiarized herself with the draft law providing for changes  in the country's water legislation this year, the ecologist noted the  point concerning small hydroelectric power plants as significant  positive changes. "With the light hand of our" pot-bellied "water use  licenses were granted for a period of 25 years, figuratively  speaking, until the end of their lives. Today's bill proposes to  reduce these terms to 5 years. We offered the same thing back in  2002>, - said Ms. Hovhannisyan.

At the same time, the ecologist noted the need to introduce a  "progressive" tariff for the population. She explained that the daily  water consumption in Yerevan is 240 liters. A progressive tariff  implies an increase in water charges if consumers exceed this norm.  In addition, Knarik Hovhannisyan considers it expedient for  low-income families to provide 50 liters of water free of charge,  which is a sanitary standard for a person.

"This is very important because the expected warming of the climate  will lead to a sharp decrease in water resources," she said. In this  regard, the expert emphasized that the new water code should also  provide for alternative sources of water.

, - said the ecologist.