ARMENIA WORRIES OVER GROUNDWATER DEPLETION
Hurriyet
Oct 21 2010
Turkey
Thursday, October 21, 2010
YEREVAN – Daily News with IWPR
Armenia’s government is worried that the growth in fish farming in
the Ararat Valley could use up the country’s precious groundwater.
Armenia’s largest valley is home to 234 fish farms, which use 800
million cubic meters of water a year, a huge volume of water for a
landlocked country, which only permits an annual limit of 170 million
cubic meters to be pumped out of Lake Sevan for irrigation.
Worried residents of the Ararat Valley, which sits above 60 percent
of the country’s underground water reserves, say the farms could cause
pollution of groundwater and deprive agricultural land of irrigation,
the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, or IWPR, reported last week.
Some farmers say they have lost their only sources of water for
their crops since fish farmers began digging down to 150 meters,
rather than the previous depth of 110 meters, to access water.
“In the last two or three years water reserves in the Ararat valley
have significantly fallen, and this has become a problem. Water
in the Ararat valley is not only used for fish farming, but for
drinking and for irrigation. We need to find a way to prevent
the ruthless exploitation of the water reserves, which could cause
serious consequences,” said Armen Gevorgyan, minister for territorial
administration and chairman of a special government commission set
up to investigate the issue.
Unchecked industry
The commission’s report painted a picture of an almost-unregulated
industry.
It said that only 27 of the 87 fish farms in the Ararat region’s
half of the valley had the correct paperwork, with the rest being
classified as agricultural or industrial enterprises, while none of
the 147 that fall within the Armavir region had the right license.
Also, none of the fish farms had water meters, or used systems intended
to maximize their water efficiency. On top of that, 109 fish farms
lacked the correct drainage systems.
Experts say fish farms, instead of using the water multiple times,
just discard it after one use, pouring it into rivers or drains
for disposal.
“The drainage systems which carry rain and groundwater are wearing
out in those regions where there are a lot of fish farms,” said Vova
Tadevosyan, director of Meloratsiya, a state committee on water use,
who argues that the fish farms risk turning the valley into a desert.
Experts argue that the Environment Ministry has not done enough to
prevent the digging of deep wells. Sanasar Baghdasaryan, head of the
environment section in the Armavir region administration’s agriculture
department, said a local investigation as far back as 2007 showed
that the wells were being dug too deeply.
“Drilling is being conducted without basic checks, therefore in some
areas of 10,000 square meters, up to seven wells are operating. The
digging of wells and their use is not being checked,” he said.
Licenses on water use rights have massively increased the amount of
groundwater used in the country. In 1984, the authorities said 1.25
cubic meters could be extracted from underground sources every year.
Currently, license holders have the right to extract 2.75 billion cubic
meters, more than twice the level set by the old Soviet authorities.
The Environment Ministry declined to comment on these figures, but the
issue is beginning to gain prominence among the public. At the start
of the 1990s, the village of Hayanist had 80 wells, but 61 of them
have since run dry, worrying residents dependent on them for water.
“If they drilled another 20 meters, then the water would be good
quality and the well would not be dry. But what have they done? A few
years ago, a fish farm was opened not far from our region and their
wells pump out water,” a resident said.
“Those who build these pools are rich, and they have four wells instead
of one. Whatever we do, we’ll lose anyway,” one of his neighbors said.
From: A. Papazian
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=armenia-worries-over-groundwater-depletion-2010-10-21