Comprehensive Program for the Recovery of Lake Sevan Addressed to the Prime Minister

Engineers Sergey Hachinyan and geographer Levon Galstyan, members of the Civil Volunteers Initiative of the Armenian Environmental Front (AEF), have presented a comprehensive proposal for restoring the natural rise of Lake Sevan’s water level, which has been illegally halted. This open letter is addressed to the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan.

We fully present the letter below:

“For the past seven years (2012-2018), the natural rise of Lake Sevan has been increasingly halted. Large volumes of water that flow into the lake, which could have replenished the lake's resources by nearly 2 billion cubic meters or approximately 1.6 meters in water level, have not been utilized or stored. The primary objective of excessive water releases has been to ensure the 'longevity' of numerous profitable facilities owned by many senior officials and oligarchs occupying vast lands along the shores of Lake Sevan.

This is why, over the last seven years, the water level of Sevan has only risen by 25 cm, whereas, during the previous seven-year period (2002-2008), it rose by 254 cm. Moreover, the volume of atmospheric precipitation in the watershed did not significantly differ between these two periods.

Since 2002 and continuing to the present day, the unprecedented and continuous rise of Lake Sevan's water level has been attributed to climate change on Earth. This phenomenon has fulfilled the heartfelt wish of our contemporaries, signaling the beginning of the lake's 'golden age' and its desired salvation and renaissance.

For many years, the lake has been anxiously awaiting 'rescue,' and nature has graciously extended its hand, providing incredibly favorable climatic conditions through abundant and prolonged precipitation, which have fortunately continued almost to this day.

Unfortunately, for the seventh year, we have been 'stubbornly refusing' to accept this unique 'gift' from nature, resulting in the loss of the lake's scarce resources and further diminishing replenishment opportunities.

Despite the seven-year halt in the natural rise of Lake Sevan, the new government can swiftly and promptly restore the lost water volumes. To that end, we propose the following priority and simultaneous comprehensive measures:

1. Responsibility for Water Reservoirs: All water reservoirs in the regions of Armenia should be placed under the strict personal responsibility of their respective regional governors, who must ensure the greatest possible water accumulation. Continuous online monitoring and recording should be implemented for the volume of collected water and the amount of water released from the reservoir.
2. Completion of the Arpa-Sevan Water Transfer Tunnel: Finalize the long-delayed renovation of the Arpa-Sevan water transfer tunnel by the end of 2019.
3. Repair of Irrigation Channels: Complete the repairs of leaks in all irrigation channels, including the Sevan-Hrazdan channel, before the 2020 irrigation season, where there has been over 40% water loss.
4. Water Transfer to Lake Sevan: Start water transfer from the Vorotan-Arpa tunnel to the Kechut reservoir as soon as possible, which was designed to provide an additional 165 million cubic meters of water to Lake Sevan annually.
5. Involvement of Environmental Organizations: Ensure environmental organizations are actively involved in monitoring the volume of water entering and leaving Lake Sevan via the Vorotan-Arpa-Sevan tunnel.
6. Reduction of Water Release Volume: Legally reduce the annual volume of water released from Lake Sevan to 150 million cubic meters from 2020 onwards.
7. Prohibition of HPPs: Strictly prohibit the construction of hydroelectric power plants on rivers feeding Lake Sevan and dismantle existing ones if possible.
8. Completion of Yeghvard Reservoir: Expedite the construction of the Yeghvard reservoir, which has been unfinished since 1994, to reduce the lake’s annual water withdrawal by 60-70 million cubic meters.
9. Public Ownership of Shoreline: The government should recognize the entire shoreline area adjacent to Lake Sevan as a public priority, returning this area to the public from oligarchs and unauthorized claims, establishing a rental arrangement.
10. Use of Nuclear Power Plant Capacity: Consider halting the operation of the nuclear power plant during the irrigation season to prevent unnecessary water release from Lake Sevan.

If it weren’t for the manipulations and illegal water releases outlined above, we would currently be very close to the benchmark set by the Armenian government (1903.5 m).

Another important proposal aimed at the rapid increase of Lake Sevan’s water level is to fully inform the public of all issues related to the lake. This could be facilitated by publishing a magazine dedicated to Lake Sevan.

We kindly request that our proposals undergo expert examination to confirm the accuracy of the above facts.”