Armenian reservoir under construction to significantly reduce Araz River water level

Armenia will finish building a reservoir on the Vedi River in 2023. The reservoir has a volume of 32 million cubic metres. The French Development Agency loaned Armenia 20 million euros to carry out this project.

According to the head of the department of the Institute of Geography, Doctor of Geographical Sciences Said Safarov, given that the Vedi River is one of the main tributaries of the Araz River, which is a transboundary river, the implementation of such a project poses a threat to the regional water security, APA reports.

According to him, especially during the filling of the reservoir, there may be a sharp decrease in the water level in the Araz River.

"The reservoir capacity is quite large. Consequently, this will negatively affect both the hydrological regime and the ecological state of the Araz River. Also, as in other countries of the region, the inflow of drinking water to Azerbaijan will decrease, and the threat of water scarcity will increase. In this regard, of course, you can contact international organisations, but no one will consider it. As you know, earlier in connection with Armenia's poisoning of our rivers in the territories liberated from occupation, an appeal was made to various structures. To no avail. Today, international laws do not work. On the other hand, Iran has built a significant number of dams on the Garachay River. It also causes significant damage to the hydrological regime of the river," he said.

Professor of Baku State University, Doctor of Geographical Sciences Chingiz Ismailov told APA that the management of water resources of transboundary rivers should be carried out based on an interstate agreement.

"Araz is a cross-border river. It passes through the territory of several countries. Of course, we should appeal to international organisations and put this issue on the agenda. Because it concerns Azerbaijan's interests. Especially the lack of water becomes a more acute problem during the warming period. During the filling of the reservoir, this deficit will manifest itself by 100 per cent. I believe that this issue should be raised before international structures. The construction of the reservoir will affect the groundwater level, and change the microclimate. This is a very serious issue. Especially the construction of reservoirs in flat areas causes great complications. Waterlogging is taking place in the adjacent territories," he noted.

The professor added that Armenia constantly drains industrial waste and wastewater with a high content of heavy metals into the Araz River and its tributaries.

"Of course, monitoring should be carried out in this direction. Armenians shout to the whole world when something happens in our country. We should do the same. In 2015, Azerbaijan signed an international document by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. We regularly prepare reports. Sustainable development is based on three main economic, social and environmental principles. In ecological terms, we are not in a confined space. Just as the processes taking place in Azerbaijan affect the outside world, so do the environmental violations taking place in the world affect us. This is especially true of rivers. Because some rivers flowing through the territory of our neighbours eventually pass through our territory and flow into the Caspian Sea. It is we who suffer the most from these negative consequences. Therefore, we must control changes in the volume and quality of water," he said.

It should be noted that Armenia has been carrying out environmental terror against the Araz River for many years, which serves as a source of both drinking water and irrigation for the countries of the region. The Okhchuchay River, which flows into the Araz, is polluted by sewage and waste from industrial enterprises of Armenia, in which the content of heavy metals is many times higher than normal. In addition, the actions committed by Armenia in the territories of Azerbaijan, which it held under occupation for 30 years, led to an environmental catastrophe. Huge damage was inflicted on the flora and fauna of these territories, as a result, entire forests were wiped off the face of the earth, rivers dried up, and rare species of animals and plants were destroyed.