Armenia to Build 5 New Reservoirs in ֏40 Billion Investment

A meeting of the Public Investment Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, took place. Five reservoir construction projects were presented and discussed.

Martiros Nalbandyan, Deputy Chairman of the Water Committee of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, noted that the investment programs propose building reservoirs in the settlements of Kasakh in Armavir province, Yelpin in Vayots Dzor province, Astghadzor in Gegharkunik province, and Lichk in Syunik province, and reconstructing the reservoir in the Artik settlement of Shirak province.

According to Nalbandyan, the total volume of the Kasakh reservoir is planned to be 10 million m³, which will increase the water supply level for 4,517 hectares of land and provide irrigation for an additional 503 hectares. The project cost is 15.4 billion AMD. The reservoir will be located in the Sevan-Hrazdan water intake system, so, according to him, the accumulated water will help mitigate risks and their possible impacts on Lake Sevan. The reservoir will be able to directly supply the lower Hrazdan canal.

The total volume of the Yelpin reservoir will be 0.93 million m³. It is expected to increase the water supply for 132 hectares of land, provide irrigation for an additional 168 hectares, and save 0.3 million kWh of electricity. The project cost is estimated at 3.3 billion AMD.

The total volume of the Astghadzor reservoir will be 1.55 million m³, which will increase the water supply for 210 hectares of land, provide irrigation for an additional 530 hectares, and save 1.6 million kWh of electricity annually. The project cost is estimated at 7.5 billion AMD. The Deputy Chairman of the Water Committee noted that, being located in the Lake Sevan basin, the reservoir is expected to significantly reduce various existing risks, in some cases nullifying their negative impact. The total volume of the Artik reservoir to be reconstructed will be 1.479 million m³, and it is expected to involve an additional 300 hectares of land in agricultural activities. The project cost is estimated at 5.7 billion AMD.

The total volume of the Lichk reservoir will be 4 million m³, it is expected to increase the water supply level for 1,315.8 hectares of land, provide an electricity saving of 2.1 million kWh, and irrigate an additional 195 hectares of land. The project cost is estimated at 11.4 billion AMD.

Martiros Nalbandyan added that the implementation of the above projects will accumulate a total of 18 million m³ of water, the total construction volume will be more than 40 billion AMD, the volume of actually irrigated land will be 6,175 hectares, and the number of new irrigable lands to be involved in agriculture will be 1,696 hectares. About 40 communities will benefit from the projects, the number of direct and indirect beneficiaries is 700 thousand people, and the total annual electricity savings will be 3.8 million kWh.

Next, issues related to the volume of investments, sources, as well as the expected results of the projects were discussed.

The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of implementing the projects and noted that global processes are moving in a way that the approach should be as follows: where it is possible to store water, water must be stored. "We do not know what the price and significance of water will be in 10 years. Although we know for sure that it will increase, not decrease; there is no option for the price, value, or importance of water to decrease. Such a scenario simply does not exist. And therefore, my understanding is this: where it is possible to accumulate water, accumulate it, because where there is water, I am sure that some economic activity will develop around it," said Nikol Pashinyan.

According to the head of the country, resources should be invested in places where the maximum impact can be achieved. "If we build reservoirs like this, and our irrigation culture remains as it is, we simply won't manage to build that many reservoirs. The effect of this is twofold: first, our agricultural technologies must also change along the way, and second, the method of water management must change. Today, entrepreneurs are appearing in our market who say, 'We don't want water for 10 drams. We want as much water as we want, tell us what price you're offering.' We are ready to pay that price. People are ready to pay for water, not wait to see if their turn will come or not. They make large investments and say, 'Give us water not for 10 drams, but for 30, 40, 50 drams, but give it on demand'," noted the Prime Minister.

As a result of the discussion, the aforementioned projects were approved by the Investment Committee, and the projects will enter the practical phase.