Additional Water Intake from Lake Sevan to be Implemented. The National Assembly is Discussing the Proposal

The government is proposing to increase the water intake from Lake Sevan from 170 million cubic meters to 240 million cubic meters due to seasonal conditions, reservoir capacities, and river flow rates. The proposal is being discussed in today's extraordinary session of the National Assembly.

Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Vache Terteryan stated that they anticipate the need to address the additional water intake issue in August, which is why they are asking the National Assembly to consider this proposal to ensure an uninterrupted irrigation season.

Additional water intake from Lake Sevan has been carried out in various years, including 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, and 2021. Terteryan also presented certain indicators to justify the necessity for this additional intake. As of July 10, 2019, the flow rate of the Hrazdan River was 12.6 cubic meters, at 7.6 in 2020, 4.9 in 2021, 10 in 2022, and 6.6 in 2023.

To date, 82.3 million cubic meters have been taken from Lake Sevan, and 81.38 million cubic meters have been transferred to Sevan through the Arpa-Sevan tunnel system. In 2022, 148 million cubic meters were transferred.

This indicates that we are indeed facing a significant water deficit this year, according to the deputy minister.

Member of the National Assembly from the Civil Contract faction Sergey Bagratyan inquired about how much water has been released from Lake Sevan up to this point and how much has been replenished in the lake, questioning whether the water resources are being used effectively.

The deputy minister responded, stating that water intake began on May 14 this year, around half a month earlier than usual. Thus far, 82.3 million cubic meters have been taken from Sevan. The hydro-technical system of the Arpa-Sevan tunnel has transferred 81.38 million cubic meters to Sevan.