WORLD BANK SPECIALIST: “I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A STRONGER WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN ARMENIA”
Sara Petrosyan
15:49, March 23, 2015
Winston Yu, Senior Water Resources Specialist at the World Bank,
responds to questions from Hetq
According to the findings of theWorld Bank 2014 reportTowards
Integrated Water Resources Management by 2030, a 25 % reduction in
river flow is projected in Armenia. In your view, what steps should
the government of Armenia take to avoid further deepening of poverty
in the country and the risk of desertification?
It is critical to note that the consequences of climate change on
this country are highly uncertain and vary across regions. So we
believe that it is key to improve and strengthen water management
in the country. The authorities should be adaptive and take a more
institutional approach for providing farmers with the tools to be able
to cope with what will come tomorrow. In this process the government
should support the communities and farms.
For instance, when we compare the economic returns of irrigated land
with rain-fed areas, we notice that the farms which benefited from
irrigation have been able to generate more income. Thus, if the
government is able to provide farmers with access to irrigation,
it would help cope with climate change. On the other hand, if the
government is able to promote more efficient use of water resources,
in such case the farms will be able to generate more income and thus
avoid poverty. To conclude, I would like to just mention that I cannot
tell you what is the future going to be like, but in any case I would
like to see a stronger water resources management system in Armenia.
How do you assess availability of water resource in Armenia?
There are specific data, such as those published by Hydromet and
the Water Committee providing the general picture of water resource
availability. In fact, Armenia’s resources compare quite well with
other countries. The main challenge is how the uneven resources and
uneven demand are being matched. This is of course the daily task of
water sector managers along with how to manage the sector in the long
term and what investment to make. One of the critical observations
we made in the report Toward Integrated Water Resources Management
is the importance of monitoring. The Hydromet service currently has
a quite good network of monitoring stations but more is needed and
the state should make investments in this area.
According to the findings of the same report, the current monitoring
system ofwater resources is quite weak and thus the results that serve
as a basis for issuing water use permits are highly unreliable. Can
those results be trusted?
-Of course, to find that out each structure and area has to be studied
separately, point by point, and if I were to try to identify the
most needed type of monitoring, that would be the groundwater water
monitoring. Ararat Valley is a vivid example, where water use permits
continue to be issued despite the lack of data.
The data served as a basis for issuing permits for hydro power plants
and fisheries and shortly issues have arisen, such as stagnation of
lakes, devastation of nature and waterscarcity among a large number of
water-users. What solutions would you recommend given the continuously
shrinking water resource?
As I already mentioned the overall monitoring system as well as the
system of issuing permits could be improved because we are not only
talking about the process of issuing those permits. What is also
important is that the terms of permits are complied with and they
are enforced, as it is possible that in fact they use more resources
than they are allowed under the permit. Also, from environmental
perspective, if we want to create a nice natural environment, have
good fauna and flora, create a good ecosystem and leave it for our
children, we need to improve the monitoring and control. The main
challenge for water resources management is that it touches upon all
aspects of life and the economy: agriculture, hydro power plants,
water supply, irrigation, environment, etc. Thus, it is important
how we chose as a society where to allocate those resources. Here,
I think, issuing of permits is the main lever that the government
has in making such choice.
It is known that the rivers of Armenia flow into the neighboring
republics, and a lack oflarge capacity to store water resources as
well as about a dozen of unsafe reservoirs has a negative impact on
irrigation. Does the Bank have solutions for addressing emergencies?
Over the last decade the World Bank (WB) has been working with the
government of Armenia on improving dam safety of water reservoirs.
Reservoirs play an important role in water resources management and
they are critical for irrigation, water supply, hydro power plants as
well as for recreationn, if we take the Lake Sevan example. As you
know, the government seeks donor and IFI support for increasing the
funding available for reservoirs and in general I find this to be a
good idea.
On the other hand, however, if we want to imagine how we would like
to see Armenia 15-20 years from now a key question is how many more
projects are necessary in addition to the four projects planned
to be implemented by the government. As we know, reservoirs could
have social and environmental impact. It means that in addition to
technical and engineering solutions we have to be aware of their
social and environmental implications.
Currently, the Bank-funded Kachtsrashen project is under consideration
but the population of the target Garni community is against it. Local
villagers claim that data on waterresources in River Azat are
overestimated, and if water withdrawn from the river for a transfer
through the pipeline reaches 900 l/sec, the statutory requirement of850
l/sec of environmental flow will not be met in the river. In view of
this, how feasible is the implementation of Kachtstrashen project,
the objective of which is to replace the delivery by pumping by a
gravity scheme?
You are asking a very important question. The World Bank views social
and environmental safeguards as highly important and naturally does
not approve any project without the review and positive assessment of
relevant experts in terms of the absence of any negative impact on the
people and the environment. If you were to participate in the meetings
between the government and our missions during our visits, you would
see that we keep asking this question – what is the impact of building
any structure on the population in the area and the environment?
Earlier you asked about monitoring, in this particular case in Azat
Gorge we have a quite good monitoring station and a lot of data
covering a long period of time. The longer the period covered by the
data, the better. It means that here we have a station that has been
collecting data from 1936 to date. On Sunday we are going on a field
visit to see how the monitoring is conducted. However, based on the
long data series our experts have analyzed and studied the data and
we believe that the statutory requirement of 850 l/s environmental
flow will be maintained. Even during an unusual period when water
resources are quite little, the priority will nevertheless be given
to environmental flow according to law. The only month that could be
a concern is the month of August, when the demand for water is the
highest. Since we want to rely on the government in adhering to the
legislation it has introduced, we plan additional measures so that
further stations are placed on the site.
During my first visit to Azat Gorge I was amazed at the beauty of
the place: the symphony of stones, Garni Temple and everything else
was simply magnificent. Naturally, from this perspective we could
not undermine the beauty and the system has been designed in such
manner as to allow the passage of fish. We recommended that the Water
Management Project Implementation Unit together with the Environmental
Inspectorate install an additional water quality monitoring system.
Also, we asked them to conduct additional monitoring of water quality
and publish it for also making it publicly available. The enforcement
of regulations is not just the responsibility of the state but the
public should also be involved in this process. When we consider the
economic gains that we expect from moving from pumping to gravity
scheme of water supply, we are sure that it is in the interest of
the public. We should reduce to the extent possible the inefficient
flow of water through pumps , since they carry enormous energy costs
and of course, it is commonly known that climate changes are taking
place because all of us consume more and more energy.
Giving preference to economic calculations is welcome, but I am myself
a resident of Garni and I should say that the presented monitoring
data are considerably different from the observations of the local
people. Are the estimated project costs and losses justified given that
during the seven months of the irrigation season in Ararat Valley, if
water could be withdrawn from Azat River for a month or two at maximum?
I would like to make one comment on this issue. When we talk about
the monitoring station and its measurements, we do not look at one
year, and if there are inaccuracies in one year, I don’t think that
data will be inaccurate over a longer period of 80-90 years. Serious
professionals work at Hydromet and international standards and methods
are used in their work. I fully understand that there are doubts and
misgivings and this is the reason why we are planning to arrange
a visit and actually see how these measurements are taken. I am a
hydrologist by training and I know sometimes how difficult it is to
make measurements. However, this profession has a history of hundred
years and the methods of assessing river resources are gradually
enhanced.
Design engineers assure the residents of Garni that there are
possibilities of increasing the quantity of water in River Azat.
However, a recent WB report notes that in future the “increased
air temperature and lower precipitation will increase evaporation
rates and reduce winter snowpack and spring runoff, resulting in less
river flow”. Given this conclusion, does the Bank plan to revise its
approach on provision of financial support for Kachtsrashen project or
at least postpone it until water reserves are significantly restored?
In such cases we have to wait for a long time. With climate change,
as I already noted, it is very difficult to predict what will happen
tomorrow. In the meantime, one thing is clear for me that we should
use more efficiently the water that God gave to us. During the
meetings that we had with the residents of Garni Community it was
clear to us that there is an issue of water availability in Garni. It
is a quite serious matter since it affects 2000 water users. The
internal network by which the water is distributed among residents
is inefficient. Garni’s main canal that transfers water to water
users is also operating inefficiently. There is a section in Garni
where losses are huge. Inhabitants of Garni mainly get water from
two sources: one is the pipeline from Azat River and the second is
the reservoir from Goght canal.
For quite a long time no investment was made in the canal to avoid
losses. There are also losses in internal network from where the water
is distributed among individual farms. Everything is interlinked
in the system and if there is a failure in one section, the entire
distribution system fails. If I can make a step tomorrow to reduce
the water loss and increase water availability, irrespective of what
are 2020 or 2025 going to be like, I think we should take those steps
today. However, analysis needs to be done for it.
Under the Eurasian Development Bank project I understand it is planned
to conduct a study. They perform technical analysis to make sure that
this is a good investment. In any case, the preliminary information
that I have reviewed is that it makes sense, as water would be more
efficiently used in an area of more than 1000 ha and the returns would
be higher. The key message is how efficiently we would be able to use
and by using the same amount of water generate more income for farms.
Azat Reservoir is also unsafe, and this is why water losses there
are high, perhaps the spending should target rehabilitation of the
reservoir to reduce the losses.
By implementing the planned project we will already reduce water
losses and improve availability. It is important to highlight the
fact that Azat Reservoir irrigates approximately 10,000 ha and thus
is a vital and important asset for the state.
However, to tell the truth I was not aware that the reservoir
itself had issues but it can be looked at and if the dams need to
be rehabilitated, it can also be done in the project. The Eurasian
Development Bank wants to submit the project to the Board this year.
If after the initial examination of facts it is found worth investing
in this area, by fall they will start working in this direction.
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