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EnvironmentalProtectionofInternationalRiverBasinsProject
ContractNo.2011/279666 ThisprojectisfundedbyTheEuropeanUnion
AprojectimplementedbyaConsortiumledbyHulla&Co.HumanDynamicsKG
RIVERBASINMANAGEMENTPLANFORAKHURYANBASINMANAGEMENTAREA
(AKHURYANANDMETSAMORRIVERBASINS)
PRESSUREIMPACTANALYSISREPORT
Preparedby:
JointVentureofResourceManagementLLCandEnvironmentalPolicyAnalysisNGO
June2014
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TableofContents
1.METHODOLOGY..............................................................................................................................5
2.DRIVERS..........................................................................................................................................6
2.1.Agriculture.............................................................................................................................................6
2.2.Fishfarming...........................................................................................................................................9
2.3.Hydropower...........................................................................................................................................9
2.4.Waterabstractionandservices.........................................................................................................12
2.4.1.Waterabstractionforcommunalpurposes..........................................................................15
2.4.2.Waterabstractionforirrigation............................................................................................16
2.4.3.Industrialwaterabstraction..................................................................................................20
2.4.4.Waterabstractionforhydropowergeneration.....................................................................20
2.4.5.Waterabstractionforfishfarming........................................................................................20
2.4.6.Communalwastewater.........................................................................................................21
2.5.Industry................................................................................................................................................21
2.6Tourism.................................................................................................................................................24
2.7.Solidwastelandfills.............................................................................................................................25
2.8.Transport.............................................................................................................................................26
2.9.Futureinfrastructuredevelopment...................................................................................................28
3.TYPESOFPRESSURES....................................................................................................................29
3.1.Pointsourcepollution........................................................................................................................29
3.1.1.Communalwastewaterdischarge,includingthewastewaterpits........................................29
3.1.2.Wastewaterdischargefromfoodindustry............................................................................32
3.1.3.Wastewaterdischargefromnonfoodindustryandmining..................................................33
3.1.4.Solidwastes..........................................................................................................................34
3.2.Diffusesourcesofpollution...............................................................................................................35
3.2.1.Cultivationofagriculturalcropsanduseoffertilizers...........................................................35
3.2.2.Livestockproduction.............................................................................................................36
3.2.3.Vehicletransport..................................................................................................................38
3.3.Hydromorphologicalalterations........................................................................................................39
3.3.1.Waterabstraction.................................................................................................................39
3.3.2.Diversionofriverflow...........................................................................................................44
3.3.3.Floodprotection...................................................................................................................45
4.IMPACTS.......................................................................................................................................46
4.1.Approachusedtoassesstheimpactsofthepressures...................................................................46
4.2.Assessmentofbiologicalstatus.........................................................................................................46
4.3.Assessmentofchemicalstatus..........................................................................................................49
4.4.Assessmentofhydromorphologicalstatus.......................................................................................52
5.SIGNIFICANTWATERMANAGEMENTISSUESANDDATAGAPS......................................................54
5.1.IdentifiedsignificantwatermanagementissuesinAkhuryanBMA...............................................54
5.2.MajordatagapsinAkhuryanBMA....................................................................................................55
5.3.ProposalforthesecondJointFieldSurvey.......................................................................................56
Annex1.EcologicalNormsofWaterQualityinRiversofAkhuryanBasinManagementArea..............58
Annex2.AssessmentoftheChemicalStatusofWaterResourcesinAkhuryanBMA............................60
Annex3.RapidBiologicalAssessmentDeterminationScheme.............................................................69
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TableofTablesTable1:CropgrossproductionintheAkhuryanRiverbasin........................................................................................6Table2:NumberoflivestockintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,thousandcapita................................................................7Table3:CropgrossproductionintheMetsamorRiverbasin.......................................................................................7Table4:NumberoflivestockintheMetsamorRiverbasin..........................................................................................8Table5:CharacteristicsofsmallHPPsoperatingintheAkhuryanBasinManagementArea........................................9Table6:CharacteristicsofsmallHPPsinconstructionintheAkhuryanBasinManagementAreas............................10Table7:CharacteristicsofthecanalsofAkhuryanRiverbasin...................................................................................17Table8:CharacteristicsofthepumpingstationsoftheAkhuryanRiverbasin...........................................................18Table9:CharacteristicsofthecanalsofMetsamorRiverbasin.................................................................................19Table10:CharacteristicsofthepumpingstationsofMetsamorRiverbasin..............................................................19Table11:StructureoftheindustrialproductofAkhuryanRiverbasinbybranchesofindustry,%............................22Table12:RelativelylargeenterprisesinAkhuryanRiverbasin..................................................................................22Table13:ProductionandsaleoftheindustrialproductsofAkhuryanRiverbasin,bytypesofeconomicactivity.....22Table14:StructureoftheindustrialproductofMetsamorRiverbasinbybranchesofindustry,%...........................23Table15:ProductionandsaleoftheindustrialproductsofMetsamorRiverbasin,bytypesofeconomicactivity....23Table16:RelativelylargeenterprisesinMetsamorRiverbasin.................................................................................24Table17:RoadsofAkhuryanBMAbytheirsiginificance............................................................................................26Table18:PassengerandcargotransportationsinAkhuryanBMAin2011................................................................28Table19:Impactofurbanwastewateraccordingtopopulationnumber..................................................................29Table20:PressurefromsewagewaterofthetownsofAkhuryanRiverbasin...........................................................30Table21:ProjectedvaluesinwaterqualityindicatorsofAkhuryanRiverbasinandactualmonitoringdata.............30Table22:PressurefromsewagewaterofthetownsofMetsamorRiverbasin..........................................................31Table23:ProjectedincrementsinwaterqualityindicatorsofMetsamorRiverbasinandactualmonitoringdata....31Table24:RelativelylargeenterprisesofMetsamorRiverbasin.................................................................................32Table25:AnnualpollutionloadsoffromlivestockproductionintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,ton/year......................37Table26:AnnualpollutionloadsoffromlivestockproductionintheMetsamorRiverbasin,ton/year.....................38Table27:DataonpasturesandcattleintheAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins,asof2013................................38Table28:MaincharacteristicsofreservoirsintheAkhuryanRiverbasin...................................................................39Table29:MaincharacteristicsofthepumpingstationsoftheAkhuryanRiverbasin................................................39Table30:CharacteristicsofthecanalsofAkhuryanRiverbasin.................................................................................40Table31:MaincharacteristicsofthepumpingstationsoftheMetsamorRiverbasin...............................................41Table32:CharacteristicsofthecanalsintheMetsamorRiverbasin..........................................................................41Table33:MaincharacteristicsoftheSmallHPPsintheAkhuryanRiverbasin...........................................................42Table34:Minimumaveragemonthlyflowchanges,duetoanthropogenicactivity(millionm3)...............................47Table35:MacrozoobenthosstatusclassificationbasedontheresultsofJointFieldSurvey(June2013)..................47Table36:SummaryofthechemicalstatusassessmentinAkhuryanBMA................................................................50Table37:Preliminarydelineationofthehydromorphologicalqualityclasses............................................................52Table38:HydromorphologicalstatusclassificationbasedontheresultsofJointFieldSurvey(June2013)..............52Table39:SummaryofsignificantanthropogenicpressuresonwaterresourcesoftheAkhuryanRiverbasin...........54Table40:SummaryofsignificantanthropogenicpressuresonwaterresourcesoftheMetsamorRiverbasin..........55
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TableofFiguresFigure1:GrossagriculturalproductsintheAkhuryanRiverbasininbillionAMD........................................................7Figure2:GrossagriculturalproductintheMetsamorRiverbasininbillionAMD........................................................8Figure3:SmallHydropowerPlantsinAkhuryanBMAasofJanuary,2014.................................................................11Figure4:WaterabstractioninAkhuryanBMA(inthousandm3),asofJanuary,2014,accordingtowaterusepermits......................................................................................................................................................................12Figure5:WaterabstractioninAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins(inthousandm3),asofJanuary,2014,accordingtowaterusepermits.................................................................................................................................13Figure6:WaterabstractionpointsinAkhuryanBMA,asof01.01.2014,accordingtowaterusepermits.................14Figure7:ServiceareaofdrinkingwatersupplycompaniesinAkhuryanBMA..........................................................15Figure8:ServiceareaofWaterUserAssociationsinAkhuryanBMA.........................................................................17Figure9:LocationofmainindustrialenterprisesinAkhuryanBMA...........................................................................21Figure10:OpenburningofwasteinSasuniklandfill..............................................................................................25Figure11:LocationofsolidwastelandfillsandmainfishfarmsinAkhuryanBMA...................................................26Figure12:MaintransportnetworkofAkhuryanBMA...............................................................................................27Figure13:AgriculturalCropsintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,hectares,asof2013........................................................35Figure14:AgriculturalCropsintheMetsamorRiverbasin,hectares,asof2013.......................................................36Figure15:LivestockintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,asof2013,thousandcapita.........................................................36Figure16:LivestockintheMetsamorRiverbasin,asof2013,thousandcapita.........................................................37Figure17:StretchoftheAkhuryanRiverwithmodifiedriverbed.............................................................................40Figure18:SectionsofAkhuryanRiverwhereecologicalflowisnotmaintainedduetoHPPoperation.....................42Figure19:CascadesmallHPPbeingconstructedonAkhuryanRiver......................................................................43Figure20:FlowalterationtrendobservedatMetsamorRanchpargaugingstation,intheperiodof19472004......44Figure21:Classificationofthesurfacewaterresourcesbybiologicalstatus.............................................................48Figure22:Classificationofthesurfacewaterresourcesbychemicalstatus..............................................................51Figure23:Classificationofthesurfacewaterresourcesbyhydromorphologicalstatus............................................53Figure24:LocationsofthesamplingpointsproposedfortheseconfJointFieldSurvey............................................57
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1.METHODOLOGYTheneedforconductinganalysisofpressuresand
impactsforriverbasinplanning isformulated inArticle5of
theEuropeanUnion (EU)WaterFrameworkDirective (WFD). Following
theGuidanceDocument#3onAnalysisofPressuresandImpacts(ImpressDocument),theDriverPressureStateImpactReponses(DPSIR)approachhasbeenusedforidentificationofpressuresandanalysisoftheimpacts
in the Akhuryan and Metsamor River basins of the Akhuryan Basin
Management Area(BMA).Asthe firststep,the
followingdriversaredescribed
fortheAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins:agriculture,fishfarming,hydropowergeneration,waterabstractionandservices,industry,tourism,landfills,
transportand future infrastructuredevelopment.Pressuresstemming
from
thesedrivers,suchaschangeintheflowand/orchemistryofwaters,areanalyzedaccordingtothefollowingtypesofpressures:pointsourcepollution,diffusesourcepollutionandhydromorphologicalalterations
intheAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins.Chemical,biologicalandhydromorphologicalstatusofthesurfacewaterresourcesoftheAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins
are assessed as thenext step, and surfacewater resources
classifiedbasedontheresultsoftheassessment.AssessmentofthechemicalstatuswasconductedbasedonecologicalnormsofwaterqualityintheAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasinsthatwasapprovedbyGovernmentResolution#75Nin2011.The
status of biological quality elements has been assessed using Rapid
Biological
Assessmentmethodbasedonthedataonbenthicmacroinvertebratecommunities.ThestatusofhydromorphologicalqualityelementshasbeenassessedbasedontheresultsofJointField
Survey (JFS)using the classification scheme
thathadbeendevelopedunder the EU TransBoundary RiverManagement
Phase II for the Kura River basin Armenia, Georgia,
AzerbaijanProject,andtestedwithinEPIRBProjectinAkhuryanBMAduringthefirstJFS.Basedontheassessmentresults,thesurfacewaterresourcesoftheAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasinsareclassifiedaccordingtochemical,biologicalandhydromorphologicalstatus.At
the final stage, the significantwater resourcemanagement issues in
theboth riverbasinsareidentified. This also includes major data
gaps which have been identified in the process ofassessment.The
locationsofsamplingpointsproposedforfuturefieldsurveystofill
inthegaps
intermsofphysicalchemical,hydromorphologicalandbiologicalmonitoringarealsopresented.For
conducting risk assessment, data and information contained in the
report on River
BasinAnalysisofAkhuryanWaterBasinManagementAreapreparedfortheEPRIBProjectwasupdatedand
complement. Additional data was obtained from the Ministries of the
Nature
Protection,includingtheWaterResourcesManagementAgencyandAkhuryanBasinManagementorganization,AgricultureandTerritorialadministration,EmergencySituation,Shirak,AragatsotnandArmavirMarzAdministrations(Marzpetarans)ofArmenia,etc.ThepressureimpactanalysiswilldirectlyfeedintotheidentificationofwaterbodiesatriskthatfailtheEUWFDenvironmentalobjectives.Basedonthefindingsoftheriskassessment,thedelineationofwaterbodieswillberevised.
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2.DRIVERS2.1. Agriculture
AgricultureisoneoftheleadingbranchesofeconomyintheAkhuryanBMA,includingAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins.In2013theagriculturallandsinAkhuryanRiverbasincomprisedanareaof230,000hectares,55%ofwhicharepastures,35%arablelands,5%grasslands,0.2%perennialsand4.8%areusedformiscellaneouspurposes.Themainprofilesofagriculturalproductionintheriverbasinarecropsproduction(grains,includingwheatandbarley,potatoes,vegetables,includingcabbage,carrots,beetroot,melons,foddercrops,suchasoatandalfalfa),aswellaslivestockproduction,includingcowsandsheep.Cropsproductionisprevailingoverthelivestockproduction.MostofthefertilesoilsareintheShirakValley.Themaincrops
are grains, which are cultivated on about 70% of the cultivated
land, fodder crops
andpotatoes(Table1).Table1:CropgrossproductionintheAkhuryanRiverbasin
Crop Cultivatedland,hectares Grossproduct(AMDmillion)2011 2012
2013 2011 2012 2013Cereals 36,403 39,717 42,348 12.2 14.8
16.9Potatoes 3,667 4,148 4,219 12.7 12.1 12.6Vegetables 1,523 1,486
1,666 3.8 3.0 4.5Fruits 443 440 445 0.6 0.6 0.7Fodder 12,051 11,951
12,600 2.6 2.6 3.6Other 17 16 31 13.0 16.6 15.0
Source:AnnualReportoftheShirakMarzpetaranonSocialEconomicSituationintheShirakMarzin2013,2014;NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014.AgriculturallandsintheAkhuryanRiverbasinareservedbyShirak,Aragats,AygabatsandAjapnyakWaterUsersAssociation
(WUAs).The total serviceareaof theWUAs is28,600ha.The
irrigationinfrastructureconsistsofabout20pump stations,networkof20
irrigationcanals, includingmain,secondaryand
tertiarycanals,whichprovidewater from riversand reservoirs for
irrigationof theagricultural
landsoftheAkhuryanRiverbasin.AsofJanuary2014thepermittedannualwateruseforirrigationpurposesintheriverbasincomprised1,664,527.5thousandm3,whichisabout77%ofthetotalpermittedwateruse.Duetopoorconditionoftheirrigationinfrastructure,waterlossesinthenetworkcurrentlycompriseabout50%.A
cattle breeding has been a traditional branch of agriculture in the
Akhuryan River basin.Widespread pastures in the river basin create
favorable conditions for development of
cattlebreeding.Thisisprovenbyannualincreaseofbothlivestockcapitaandlivestockyield.18,700beehivesexistedintheAkhuryanRiverbasinin2013.About8085%ofthelivestockisfedbygreenfodder,whereasasystemofcombinedfodderneedstobedevelopedintheriverbasin,whichwillincreaselivestockproduction(Table2).
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Table2:NumberoflivestockintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,thousandcapitaCattle
Pigs Sheepandgoats Poultry
2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 201396.7
99.7 105.7 13.5 15.3 15.7 69.1 82.3 86.4 240.0 202.0 315.0
Source:Annual Report of the ShirakMarzpetaran on SocialEconomic
Situation in the ShirakMarz in 2013,
2014;NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014.In2013about6,200itemsofagriculturalmachineryandequipmentweredeployedintheAkhuryanriverbasin,80%ofwhichareinoperablecondition.ThegrossagriculturalproductintheAkhuryanRiverbasinamountedto124.3billionAMDin2013.
Figure1:GrossagriculturalproductsintheAkhuryanRiverbasininbillionAMD.(Datasource:NationalStatisticalServiceofArmenia,2014;AnnualReportoftheShirakMarzpetaranonSocialEconomicSituationintheShirakMarzin2013,2014)In
2013 the agricultural lands in the Metsamor River basin comprised
approximately
226,900hectares,including47%ofpastures,24%arablelands,10.5%grasslands,5.6%perennialplants,and12.9%formiscellaneoususe.Table3:CropgrossproductionintheMetsamorRiverbasin
Crop Cultivatedland,ha Grossharvest,thousandton2011 2012 2013
2011 2012 2013
Cereals 16,978 17,266 17,611 38.7 49.6 56.4Potatoes 1,684 1,832
1,996 51.1 51.9 65.2Vegetables 6,121 6,208 6,456 252.7 261.9
265.6Fruits 2,296 2,298 2,496 97.9 99.3 112.4Grapes 4,846 5,017
5,265 68.7 73.6 79.1Fodder 8,997 9,181 9,326 171.1 178.8 181.3
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceof
theRepublicofArmenia,2014;AnalyticalInformationCenterof
theEconomicReforms,AchievementsofAragatsotnMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012;andAchievementsofArmavirMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012.Production
of vegetables in the green houses has been gradually increasing in
the river
basin,particularlyintheArmavirregion.Varioustypesofvegetablesandstrawberryaregrownunderglassandpolyethylenecoversonabout1,000hectaresoftheland,whichenablestoprovidethenationalpopulationwithfreshvegetablesalmostallovertheyear.
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Arablelandswithcerealshavereducedoverlast10yearsintheagriculturalsectoroftheriverbasin,particularly
in lover reaches of theMetsamor River, and areas for vineyards and
orchards haveexpandedinstead.Agriculturallands
intheMetsamorRiverbasinareservedbyAknalich,Masis,Khoy,Parpi,Amberd,Shahumian,Armavir,SevjurAkhtamar,Merdzpanya,Araks,Mush,KarakertandShenikWUAs.ThetotalserviceareaoftheWUAsisabout41,225ha.Theirrigationinfrastructureconsistsofabout31pumpstations,networkof23irrigationcanals,includingmain,secondaryandtertiarycanals,whichprovidewaterfromriversandreservoirsforirrigationoftheagriculturallandsoftheMetsamorRiverbasin.AsofJanuary2014thepermittedannualwaterusefor
irrigationpurposes intheriverbasincomprised120,099.5
thousandm3,which isabout47%of the totalpermittedwateruse. Due
topoorconditionoftheirrigationinfrastructure,waterlossesinthenetworkcurrentlycompriseabout50%.Approximately
18,000haof the irrigated landsof agricultural significance in
theMetsamorRiverbasinarecurrentlynotcultivated,mainlydue toa lackof
irrigationwaterandabsenceof tertiaryirrigation networks, double
salinization of lands, as well as low solvency of individual
ruralcommunities,andhighratesofemigration.GeographicalpositionandnaturalclimaticconditionsintheMetsamorRiverbasinarefavorableforcattlebreeding.Dataonlivestockproductionintheriverbasinispresentedbelow.Table4:NumberoflivestockintheMetsamorRiverbasin
Cattle Pigs Sheepandgoats Poultry2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 2013
2011 2012 2013 2011 2012 201380.7 81.6 82.4 20.9 21.7 22.2 100.6
102.8 104.1 284.0 298.5 320.0
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceof
theRepublicofArmenia,2014;AnalyticalInformationCenterof
theEconomicReforms,AchievementsofAragatsotnMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012;andAchievementsofArmavirMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012.In2013thegrossagriculturalproductintheMetsamorRiverbasinamountedtoAMD154.4billion.
Figure2:GrossagriculturalproductintheMetsamorRiverbasininbillionAMD.(Datasource:NationalStatisticalServiceofArmenia,2014;AnnualReportoftheAragatsotnMarzpetaranonSocialEconomicSituationintheMarzin2013,2014;AnnualReportoftheArmavirMarzpetaranonSocialEconomicSituationintheMarzin2013,2014)
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2.2. Fish farming Traditionally, fishbreeding
intheAkhuryanRiverbasinhasbeentakingplace
intheLakeArpiandAkhuryanreservoirs.AsofJanuary2014,therewere4fishfarmsintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,withannual
15,273.3 thousandm3 permittedwater use, and 14,398.4 permitted
return flows. Thesefarms are smallscale and occupy 78 ha of land.
These fish farms mostly abstract water
fromgroundwatersources,whichareofhighquality.Fish farming does not
play an essential role in the economy of the Akhuryan river basin,
andpermittedwaterabstractionforthispurposeconstitutesonly0.7%ofthetotalwaterabstraction.Duringthe
last67yearsfishfarminghas increasedsignificantly inthe
lowerreachesofMetsamorRiverbasin,particularly
intheArmavirMarz,contributingsignificantlytotheeconomyoftheriverbasin.AsofJanuary2014,therewereabout142fishfarmsregisteredintheMetsamorRiverbasin,including
92 operational. The permitted water use by these farms via 176
groundwater wellscomprised49,915.5 thousandm3annually,which
isabout19.5%of totalwaterabstraction in
theriverbasin.Theannualpermittedreturnflowsfromthefishfarmscomprise46,286.9thousandm3.These
farms,with total surfaceofabout956ha,occupywater
lands,agriculturaland communitylands, etc.of the river basin. Fish
farms abstractwater from groundwater aquifers of
theAraratValleyofArmenia
(coveringArmavirandAraratMarzesofArmenia)and return flows into
surfacewaters(MetsamorandAraksrivers).Carp,silvercarp,catfish,kramulya(Varicorhinuscapoeta),trout,sturgeonarebeingproducedinthefishfarms.Grossfishproductionamountedtoabout2,500tonsin2013intheAkhuryanBMA,withtroutandsturgeonspeciescomprising6570%ofthegrossproduction.Partoftheproductionisusedforlocalconsumption,andtherestisimportedtoforeignmarkets,suchasRussia,Ukraine,Georgia,US,Arabiccountries,etc.2.3.
Hydropower
Constructionofsmallcapacityhydropowerplants(HPPs)bothinAkhuryanBMAandinArmeniaasawholeisconsideredtobeaprincipalstepinrenewableenergydevelopment.Currentlythereare8smallHPPsoperating
inAkhuryanriverbasin,withtotal
installedcapacityof17,240kWand4smallHPPsinMetsamorriverbasin,withtotalcapacityof9,940kW(Table5).Table5:CharacteristicsofsmallHPPsoperatingintheAkhuryanBasinManagementArea
Nameofthesmall
HPPRiverBasin
CapacitykW
Flow,m3/sec Watersource
Ecologicalflow
maintainedFishpasses
existGyumri Akhuryan 5,280 6.4 ShirakCanal No NoTalin Metsamor
5,140 5.6 TalinIrrigationCanal N/A N/AJradzor Akhuryan 3,900 5.0
AkhuryanCanal No NoParos Akhuryan 2,380 9.2 AkhuryanRiver No
YesMarmashen Akhuryan 2,150 16.0 AkhuryanRiver Yes YesArmavir
Metsamor 2,040 22.0 Armavirmaincanal N/A N/AVardan Metsamor 1,710
5.0 TalinIrrigationCanal, N/A N/A
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Nameofthesmall
HPPRiverBasin
CapacitykW
Flow,m3/sec Watersource
Ecologicalflow
maintainedFishpasses
exist2ndstage
Amasia Akhuryan 1,600 AkhuryanRiver No YesYeghnajur Akhuryan
1,230 YeghnajurRiver Yes YesVardanants Metsamor 1,050 4.0
ShenikVanandchuteofTalinIrrigationCanal,2ndstage
N/A N/A
Artik1 Akhuryan 380 0.25 MantashArtikdrinkingwaterpipeline N/A
N/AMayisyan Akhuryan 320 0.5 ZuigaghbyurGyumridrinkingwaterpipeline
N/A N/A
Source:PublicServicesRegulatoryCommission,2013;AkhuryanBasinManagementOrganization,WRMA,2014TheGyumriHPPisthemostpowerfulsmallhydropowerplantinthebasin,withacapacityof5,280andcalculatedflowof6.4m3/sec.TheArmavirHPPisthemostpowerfulsmallhydropowerplantonArmavirmaincanal,withcapacityof2,040kWandcalculatedflowof22.0m3/sec.Wateruse
fromhydropowerplantsofAkhuryan riverbasin to MarmashenandParosHPPs
iscarriedoutthroughderivationalpipes,andtherestareinstalledrightonthesourcedrinkingwaterpipelineandcanal.HydropowerplantsoftheMetsamorriverbasinareinstalledoncanals.Ingeneral
theHPPsof theAkhuryanBMAareof smallcapacities.However, theyexert
significantpressure onwater resources in terms of failure
tomaintain ecological flow in some sections ofAkhuryanRiver.At
present, there are 3 other smallHPPs are being constructed in
theAkhuryan BMA (Table
6).Figure3belowpresentsthespatiallocalizationofthesmallHPPsinAkhuryanBMA.Table6:CharacteristicsofsmallHPPsinconstructionintheAkhuryanBasinManagementAreas
NameofthesmallHPP
RiverBasin
Capacity,kW
Flow,m3/sec Watersource
Ecologicalflow
maintainedFishpasses
existCascade Akhuryan 4,270 9.54 AkhuryanRiver No YesShenik
Metsamor 550 TalinIrrigationCanal,2ndstage N/A N/ABaghramyan
Metsamor 440 TalinIrrigationCanal N/A N/A
Source:PublicServicesRegulatoryCommission,2013,AkhuryanBasinManagementOrganization,WRMA,2014
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Figure 3: Small Hydropower Plants in Akhuryan BMA as of January,
2014 (Data source: Water
ResourcesManagementAgencyoftheMinistryofNatureProtectionofArmenia,2014)
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2.4. Water abstraction and services Wateruse inAkhuryanBMA
iscarriedout fordrinkinghousehold, irrigation,
industrial,hydropowergeneration and fisheries. As of January 1,
2014,water abstraction in Akhuryan BMA amounts to2,420,326.5
thousand m3, according to the water use permits. Surface water
abstraction,
whichamountedto2,223,564.9thousandm3,constitutedtheprevalentpartoftotalwaterabstraction,andthegroundwaterusewas196,761.6thousandm3.Thebreakdownofthewaterusevolumesbywaterusepurposeispresentedinthechartbelow:
Figure4:WaterabstractioninAkhuryanBMA(inthousandm3),asofJanuary,2014,accordingtowaterusepermits(datasource:WaterResourcesManagementAgencyoftheMinistryofNatureProtectionofArmenia,2014)Currently
61 water abstraction points operate in Akhuryan River basin, 35 of
which are fromgroundwater and 26 from surfacewater resources.
Predominantly the groundwater isused
fordrinking/domesticpurposes.Asof January2014,waterabstraction
intheriverbasinamounted
to2,163,932.5thousandm3,2,098,125.4thousandm3ofwhichwassurface,and65,807.2thousandm3groundwater.
A largerpartofwaterabstraction iscarriedout for irrigationpurposes
1,664,527.5 thousandm3(76.9% of the totalwater abstraction), and
the least part by industrial (271.6 thousandm3 orapproximately
0.01% of the total water abstraction) and fishfarming (15273.3
thousand m3 orapproximately 0.7% of the total water abstraction)
sectors. The water abstraction
fordrinking/householdpurposescomprises2.3%and20%forhydropowergeneration.ThewaterdischargetoAkhuryanRiverbasinamountsto454,204.0thousandm3.Thiswatercomesmainlyfromhydropowerplantsandfisheries.
Groundwateruse iscarriedout through
springsandwells.Springsarecentralized in
thenorthernoutskirtsofVerinAkhuryanconcave.Zuigaghbyur,AshotskandGhazanchispringsarecapturedandtheyserve
thesupplyofdrinkingwater toGyumriand itsadjacentsettlements,with
total flowof1.7m3/sec. In thiscase, thewater flowofAshotskRiver
reducesproportionally (by1.7m3/sec). In
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these concaves, particularly Ashotsk concave,water is also
abstracted by thewells.
Totalwaterabstractionfrom13wellsinAshotskconcavemakes350l/sec.Thiswater,togetherwithZuigaghbyurwaterpipeline,isusedtosupplydrinkingwatertoGyumricityand
itsadjacentsettlements.Allthewells are fountaining. Essentially, by
default the waters of groundwater aquifers have beendischarging
into the rivers. Therefore, the actualwater flow of Ashotsk River
has decreased by1.7+0.35=2.05m3/sec,ratherthanby1.7m3/sec.There are
also significant volumes of water used for drinking water supply in
Gyumri concave.Currently water is pumped from 15 wells. Water
abstraction is carried out by
individualcommunities,withoutmeasuringwaterquantity. If in
thementionedwaterabstractionconditionsthe groundwater tablewas in
the range of 730m depth, presently, in the absence of
regularobservations,itisdifficulttopredicttheirdepth.Currently 118
water abstraction points exist in Metsamor River basin, 103 of
which are fromgroundwater and 15 from surface water resources. The
number of groundwater use
permitsexceedsthenumberofsurfacewaterusebyapproximately5times.ThereasonisthatfishfarminghasrecentlydevelopedinMetsamorRiverbasin,andgroundwaterextractedfromdeepaquifersofAraratValleyismainlyusedforfisheryandirrigationpurposes.As
of January 2014, total water consumption in Metsamor River basin
amounted to
256,393.9thousandm3.Mostofthewaterisusedforirrigationpurposes,whichmakesalmost47%ofthetotal.Waterconsumption
for fishfarmingconstitutesaround20%of the total, forhydropower
almost10%,forindustrial12%,anddrinking/household11%.Groundwater in
Metsamor River basin is used for drinking, fishery and irrigation
purposes.
Aconsiderablepartofwaterabstractioniscarriedoutforfishfarming(morethan13m3/sec).Thereisnocalculationconductedfortheactualquantitiesofwaterabstraction.Duetothelargevolumeofwaterabstraction,
the levelofconfinedaquifers is intensively reducing
(annually0.150.35mandmore).Asaresult,decreasesingroundwatertablehavedirectimpactonenvironmentofthewaterabstractionareas.Figure4showsacomparativeanalysisofwateruseinAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins.Figure5demonstratesspatialdistributionofthewaterabstractionpointsinAkhuryanBMA.
Figure5:WaterabstractioninAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins(inthousandm3),asofJanuary,2014,according
towaterusepermits(datasource:WaterResourcesManagementAgency,MNP,2014)
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Figure6:WaterabstractionpointsinAkhuryanBMA,asof01.01.2014,accordingtowaterusepermits
(Datasource:WaterResourcesManagementAgency,MinistryofNatureProtectionofArmenia,2014)
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2.4.1.WaterabstractionforcommunalpurposesAsofJanuary2014,annually79.2
millionm3ofwaterwasusedforcommunalpurposesinAkhuryanBMA,accordingtototallyissued47permits.WatersupplyforcommunalpurposesiscarriedoutbyShirak
Water Supply and Sewerage CJSC, Nor Akunk CJSC, Armenian Water
Supply
andSewerageCJSC,aswellasbyselfservicecommunities(Figure7).
Figure7:ServiceareaofdrinkingwatersupplycompaniesinAkhuryanBMA(Datasource:GeoinfoLLC,2013)
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AsofJanuary2014,annually50.6millionm3ofwaterwasusedforcommunalpurposesinAkhuryanRiverbasin(amountsto2.3%ofthetotalwaterabstractionintheriverbasin)and28.6millionm3inMetsamorRiverbasin(11.2%ofthetotalwaterabstractionintheriverbasin).InAkhuryanRiverbasinthewatersupplyiscarriedoutbyArmenianWaterSupplyandSewerageCJSC,ShirakWaterSupplyandSewerageCJSCandlocalselfgovernmentauthorities.Watersupplyof37
communities inGyumri city,Akhuryan,Ani,Amasia regions is
carriedoutby ShirakWaterSupplyandSewerageCJSC from
Ghazanchi,Zuigaghbyur,
Krasar,KrunkSpringandVardBaghwatersprings,totalproductioncapacityofwhichmakes1,482l/secbygravitymethod.WatersupplyofArtikandAshotskcommunities
iscarriedoutbyArmenianWaterSupplyandSewerageCJSCfromMantashgravitysystemandAshotskwatersprings.Water
supply is carried out bywater transmission pipelines, extending for
229.2 km,which aremainlyconstructed incomplex
landscapeconditionsandpassthroughhardrock
layersandmarshygrounds,aswellasbymainwaterpipelines,whichhaveatotal
lengthof250.8km.ShirakWaterSupplyandSewerageCJSCoperates10dailyregulatoryreservoirs(DRR)and5chlorinationplants.The
company provides service to internal distribution networks of
communities,which have
anapproximatelengthof660700km.ArmenianWaterSupplyandSewerageCJSCoperatesinternaldistributionnetworksofArtikandAshotsk
communities,approximate lengthofwhichmakes150km.Mainly 3 urban
communities (Gyumri, Artik and Maralik) from river basin
communities receivedrinkingwater from centralizedwater supply
systems,wherewater isdecontaminatedunder thedefined procedure.
Water supply and sewerage systems in other settlements, rural areas
inparticular,are
inverypoorandwornoutcondition,whichcreatesseriousproblems
fordeliveringappropriatequalityofwatertothepopulation.
InMetsamorRiverbasinthewatersupplyiscarriedoutbyArmenianWaterSupplyandSewerageCJSC,
Nor Akunk CJSC and local selfgovernment authorities. These
organizations
supplywaterfromChlkannerandAragatssprings,andwaterspringsofTaronikandShorShorpumpingstation,mainlywithtotalcapacityof1,235l/sec.Three
cities and over 50 communities in the river basin receive
drinkingwater from
centralizedwatersupplysystems,wherewateristreated.Intheremainingsettlementsthewatersupplyistheresponsibilityofthelocalgovernmentauthorities.Themajorityofhouseholdsinsomeruralcommunitiesoftheriverbasinusecommonfaucets.WaterforArgina,Shenik,Karakert,MiasnikyanandKoghbavancommunitiesissuppliedbytankers.Waterabstracted
from deepwellsofArevadasht andHushakert communities isused for
irrigation,
anddrinkingwaterisreceivedfromwellsofSardarapatvillage.2.4.2.WaterabstractionforirrigationMost
of the water in Akhuryan BMA is used for irrigation. As of January
2014, annual
waterabstractionforirrigationpurposeswas1,664,527.5thousandm3inAkhuryanRiverbasin,whichwasamounted
to77%of the totalwater abstraction, and120,099.5 thousandm3
inMetsamorRiverbasin(about47%ofthetotalwaterabstraction).
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In Akhuryan River basin the irrigationwater is supplied by the
by Aygabats, Shir, Ajapnyak
andAragatsWaterUserAssociations(WUA),whileinMetsamorRiverbasinbyAknalich,Masis,Khoy,Parpi,Amberd,Shahumian,Armavir,SevjurAkhtamar,Merdzapnia,Araks,Mush,Talin,KarakertandShenikWUAs(refertoFigure8below).
Figure8:ServiceareaofWaterUserAssociationsinAkhuryanBMA(Datasource:StateWaterCadastre,2013)InAkhuryan
riverbasin the irrigation iscarriedout through the
following19bigandsmallcanals,totalirrigatedareaofwhichmakesabout28,600hectares.Table7:CharacteristicsofthecanalsofAkhuryanRiverbasin
Nameofthecanal Sourceoffeeding Length,kmTransmissibility,
m3/secIrrigationarea,ha
Shirakcanal Akhuryanriver 21.3 6.6 9,817Voskehaskpump,canal
Akhuryanriver 6.1 0.6 590AkhurikYerazgavorscanal Pumpingstation 48
08 270
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Nameofthecanal Sourceoffeeding Length,kmTransmissibility,
m3/secIrrigationarea,ha
Aygebatscanal Karnutreservoir 21.7 3.6 2,668Akhuryancanal Canal
26.6 0.11.12 2,826Karangiriverwingcanal Karanguriver 0.8 0.3
123Bayandurpumpingstationcanal Akhuryanriver 2.3 0.2
91Akhuryanrightbankcanal Akhuryanriver 30.18 5
4,230Maralikwaterpipeline Sarnaghbyurreservoir 3.5 0.9
775JrapAghinwaterpipeline Akhuryanreservoir 2.52 0.4
449IrapiHaykadzor Akhuryanreservoir 1.62 0.5 315Kapsreservoirsystem
Kapsreservoir 760Akhuryanrightbankcanal Akhuryanriver 4.4 0.7
755Tavshutirrigationcanal Tavshutreservoir 1.5 5.1
331Khothundzimechanicalirrigation Akhuryanriver 0.8 0.6
1,298Karnutwatersupply/irrigationsystem Karnutreservoir 15.5 0.8
445LeftbankcanaloftheKaranguRiver Karanguriver 2.9 1.5
1,144RightbankcanaloftheKaranguRiver Karanguriver 17.4 2
1,193Horomcanal Karnutreservoir 9.2 0.8 631
Source:StateCommitteeonWaterSystemsoftheMinistryofTerritorialAdministrationoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014The
largestcanals intheriverbasin includeShirakCanal,withan
irrigationareaof9,817hectares,AkhuryanRiver
rightbankcanal4,230hectares,AygabatsCanal2,668hectares,andAkhuryanCanal2,826hectares.Thereare28pumpingstationsinAkhuryanRiverbasin,eventhoughnotallofthemareoperational.ThelargestonesareArtik,PokrSepasar,AnitwolevelandTavshutpumpingstations.Totalirrigationareaofthepumpingstationsisapproximately8,500hectares(Table11).Table8:CharacteristicsofthepumpingstationsoftheAkhuryanRiverbasin
Nameofthepumpingstation Sourceoffeeding
Pressure,mProductivity,
m3/secIrrigationarea,
hectaresArtik Karnutreservoir 100 2 1,743Voskehask Akhuryanriver
210 0.55 590Akhuryan Akhuryanriver 90 0.36
67Akhurikonelevelandtwolevel Akhuryanriver 50 0.66
185Akhurikthreelevel Akhuryanriver 65 0.38 323Akhurikfourlevel
Akhuryanriver 50 0.16 80Akhurikfivelevel Akhuryanriver 50 0.08
85Beniaminonelevel Karnutreservoir 36 0.13 3Beniamintwolevel
Karnutreservoir 120 0.59 396Bayanduronelevel Akhuryanriver 90 0.57
91Bayandurtwolevel Akhuryanriver 75 0.23 100Aygabatsonelevel
Karnutreservoir 120 0.32 257Aygabatstwolevel Karnutreservoir 90
0.54 250Mayisian Shirakcanal 120 0.26 160Gharibjanian Akhuryanriver
120 0.64 247Sarnaghbyur Sarnaghbyurreservoir 210 0.32 130Kharkov
Akhuryanriver 210 0.16Torosvillage Akhuryanreservoir 210 0.44
755PokrSepasar Fromsprings 240 0.73 1,238Tavshut Tavshutreservoir
175 0.78 331Horom Horomreservoir 264 0.02Hayreniats Karnutreservoir
70 0.30 197
Source:StateCommitteeonWaterSystemsoftheMinistryofTerritorialAdministrationoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014
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InMetsamorRiverbasinIrrigationiscarriedoutthrough23largeandsmallcanalsintheriverbasin,thetotalirrigationareaisapproximately41,225hectares(Table9).Table9:CharacteristicsofthecanalsofMetsamorRiverbasin
Nameofthecanal Sourceoffeeding Length,km Transmissibility,m3/sec
Irrigationarea,haArmavircanal Arasriver 43.65 3550
19,538Zartonkpumpingstationcanal Metsamorriver 11.86 5
2,871Metsamorpumpingstationcanal Metsamorriver 17.9 3
10.1Talincanalonelevel Talincanal 11.2 11 4,865Talincanaltwolevel
Talincanal 27 8 4,970Yervandashatcanal Akhuryanriver 10.7 2
384ArmavirN1,N2pumpingstationcanal Armavircanal 13 0.31.6
1,432UpperwaterwayofAknalichpumpingstation LakeMetsamor 10.4 2
999LowerwaterwayofAknalichpumpingstation LakeMetsamor 11.5 2
1,325Haykashencanal Metsamor left bank
canal10 6 1,227
Jraratcanal Metsamorriver 19.4 5 1,440Metsamorleftbankcanal
Metsamorriver 16.8 11.2 226Metsamorpumpingstationcanal
Metsamorriver 0.6 0.35 390SisAraksN1,N2pumpingstationcanal
Metsamorriver 0.9 0.25 130Metsamorpumpingstationcanal Metsamorriver
0.6 0.35 350Talincanal Akhuryanriver 23.4 27.5 8Karmrashencanal
Karmrashenriver 2.5 2.5 64SariArucanal Chilkansprings 13.9 2.5
277Mastaracanal Chilkansprings 28.0 1.5 165KatnaghbyurAshnakcanal
Vosketassprings 26.0 3.5 159Agarakcanal Vosketassprings 12.9 1.5
70Bazmaberdcanal Vosketassprings 10.0 3.0 207Hatsashencanal
MastaraJurriver 3.5 2.5 118
Source:StateCommitteeonWaterSystemsoftheMinistryofTerritorialAdministrationoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014Armavir
Canal is the largest canal inMetsamor River basin,which amounts to
50m3/sec.,
andirrigationareaaccountsforalmosthalfofthetotalirrigationarea19,538hectares.ThenextlargecanalsincludeTalin1stCanal4,865hectares,Talin2ndCanal4,970hectares,AknalichCanal1,325hectares,HaykashenCanal1,220hectares,andJraratCanal1440hectares.The
total area of irrigation through the pumping stations ofMetsamor
River basin is
approximately34,680hectares.Ranchpar,Arevshat,ZartonkandAknalicharethelargestpumpingstationsintheriverbasin(Table10).Table10:CharacteristicsofthepumpingstationsofMetsamorRiverbasinNameofthepumpingstation
Sourceoffeeding Pressure,m
Productivity,m3/sec
Irrigationarea,ha
Bazmaberd 600 0.16 130Dashtadem Akhuryanreservoir 310 1.53
852Zartonk Metsamorriver 27 5.05 2,875Metsamor 52 3.04
350Hoktemberian Arasriver 52 1.66 914Hushakert Armavircanal 90 0.58
163Mayisian Metsamorpumping 40 0.56 300Armavir Armavircanal 14 0.7
100Araks1 40 0.17 104Araks2 65 0.7 25Hatsik 20 0.08 60Vardanashen
Fromthelakes 36 0.28 70NorKesaria1 Armavircanal 65 0.7 150
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Nameofthepumpingstation Sourceoffeeding
Pressure,mProductivity,
m3/secIrrigationarea,ha
NorKesaria2 28 0.22 76Arevik Drainagewaters 40 0.84
DrainageArtashar Armavircanal 13.5 0.66 DrainageHushakert 40 1.12
737Talin1 Talincanal 100 2.2 859Yervandashat Arasriver 55 0.08
20Bagaran Bagarancanal 55 0.02 15Hushakert1 Armavircanal 30 0.16
40Aknalich LakeMetsamor 65 4.55 2,210Arevshat1st LakeMetsamor 80
12.25 3,637Arevshat2nd Pumping 95 3.3 9,259Araks1 Metsamorriver 14
1.05 70Araks2 Metsamorriver 14 0.7 60Ranchpar1st
Catchmentdrainagewaters 80 1.75 9,419Metsamor Metsamorriver 21 0.55
232Lernamerdz Deepwells 85 0.04 75Aknalich2 LakeMetsamor 30 0.08
80Aknalich3 LakeMetsamor 21 1.35 Offset
Source:StateCommitteeonWaterSystemsoftheMinistryofTerritorialAdministrationoftheRepublicofArmenia,20142.4.3.IndustrialwaterabstractionWaterabstraction
for industrialpurposes inAkhuryanandMetsamorriverbasins
ismainlycarriedoutinthefieldsoffoodindustry,lightindustryandminingindustry.AsofJanuary2014,theannualwaterusefor
industrialpurposesamountsto271.6thousandm3
inAkhuryanRiverbasin,which
is0.7%ofthetotalwaterabstractionand32,768.8thousandm3inMetsamorRiverbasin(12.8%ofthetotalwaterwithdrawal).
2.4.4.WaterabstractionforhydropowergenerationAsof January2014,
theannualwaterabstraction forhydropowergenerationpurposeamounts
to433,275.2 thousand m3 in Akhuryan River basin, which accounts for
20% of the total waterabstraction and to 24,970 thousandm3
inMetsamor River basin (about 10% of the
totalwaterabstraction).Currentlythereare8smallHPPsoperatinginAkhuryanriverbasin,withtotalinstalledcapacityof17,240kWand4smallHPPsinMetsamorriverbasin,withtotalcapacityof9,940kW2.4.5.WaterabstractionforfishfarmingAsof
January2014,theannualwateruse for fisherypurposes
inAkhuryanBMAexceeds65,188.8
thousandm3,outofwhich15,273.3thousandm3
inAkhuryanRiverbasinand49,915.5thousandm3
inMetsamorRiverbasin.Vastmajorityofoverhundred
fisherieswithdrawwater fromgroundwaterbasinofAraratValley.Large
quantity of returnwaters used from groundwater reserves of Ararat
Valley flow into
theMetsamorandArasRiversbysurfaceflowandthenleavethecountry.
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2.4.6.CommunalwastewaterInAkhuryanBMA sewageand
communalwastewaters from the settlementsaredirectly
releasedintotheenvironment,sincetherearenonoperationaltreatmentplants,andsewageand
industrialwaterpipelinenetworksareobsolete:7080%areoutoforder.2.5.
Industry
FigurebelowshowsthemainindustrialenterprisesoftheAkhuryanBMA.
Figure9:LocationofmainindustrialenterprisesinAkhuryanBMA(Datasource:StateWaterCadastre,2014)
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Currentlythereareapproximately110actingindustrialenterprisesinAkhuryanRiverbasin,90%ofwhicharemediumandsmallcompanies.Asof2013,76oftheeconomicoperators
issuingproductare companiesbelonging to thebranchofmanufacturing
industry.Manufacturing industry is
themainbranchofindustry,88%ofwhichgoestofoodindustry.Table11:StructureoftheindustrialproductofAkhuryanRiverbasinbybranchesofindustry,%
Branchesofindustry
Volumeofproduct,%Power,gas,steamandgoodqualityairsupply
10.7Miningindustryandoperationofopenmines 0.3Processingindustry
88.4Watersupply,sewerage,wastemanagementandprocessing 0.6
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2013About86%of
industrialenterprises inAkhuryanRiverbasinarecentralized
inGyumri,majorityofwhicharefoodproductionand light
industry.Relatively largeenterprises intheriverbasin
includeLenteks, Igit, Shirak beer,Artik Steklomash,
TufablokneriGortsaran,Maralik
Nayteks,ArtikArtikTuffandothercompanies.ExtractionofmineralsintheriverbasinismainlycentralizedinArtikandPemzashen,where
tuffandpumiceareextracted.Operationof thesugar
factorywaslaunchedinAkhuryanregion,withadailycapacityof500tons.Table12:RelativelylargeenterprisesinAkhuryanRiverbasin
Nameoftheenterprise Region FieldofactivityAnalitsark1OJSC
Akhuryan Electrical,electronicandopticalequipmentArshaluisOJSC
Akhuryan Textileindustry(hosiery)ArmenKarpetGyumriBranch Akhuryan
Textileindustry(carpets)GyumriMaltBeerShirakCJSC Akhuryan
FoodanddrinkproductionLenteksCJSC Akhuryan
TextileindustrySteklomashOJSC Artik
ProductionofmachineryandequipmentArtikTuffCJSC Artik
ExtractionofmineralsVardatuffLLC Artik
ExtractionofmineralsShinanyutOJSC Akhuryan
ExtractionofmineralsAnipemzaOJSC Ani
ProductionofothernonmetallicmineralresourcesAshotskiPanragortsaranOJSC
Ashotsk FoodproductionAmasiayiPanragortsaranOJSC Amasia
Foodproduction
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2013ConstructionplaysanessentialroleintheindustryofAkhuryanRiverbasin.Duringthelastfiveyears30billionArmeniandramswerespent
intheconstructionsector.Thekeyexpenseswere
incurredforhousingconstructioninGyumriandothersettlements.Table13:ProductionandsaleoftheindustrialproductsofAkhuryanRiverbasin,bytypesofeconomicactivity
Economicindicators
Volumeoftheproducedproduct(expressedincurrentprices),
millionAMDVolumeofthesold
product,millionAMD
Volumeoftheindustrialproduct,including: 42,750
42,580Power,gas,steamandgoodqualityairsupply 4,932
4,696Miningindustryandoperationofopenpits 124.3
120.5Manufacturingindustry 40,406
38,575Watersupply,sewerage,wastemanagementandprocessing
287.5 281.3
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2012;AnalyticalInformationCenteroftheEconomicReforms,AchievementsofShirakMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012The
return flows from the light industryaredischarged into sewage
systemofGyumri.However,there isnodataavailableon
locationofdischarging the return flows from thenewlyoperational
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Akhuryan sugar factory. Considering the dissemination of ground
waters in the entire Gyumriconcaveandhigh filtration
rateofwaterbearing rocks (up to24m/dayandmore), the industrialflows
of thementioned factory,without primary treatment,may become a
potential source ofpollutionforgroundwaterandsoils.Industry isoneof
themost important sectorsof theeconomy in theMetsamorRiverbasin. It
iscurrentlyspecialized inproductionofenergy,
jewelry,productionoffood,refreshingbeverageandalcoholicdrinks,aswellasoperationofdepositsofnonmetallicmineralresources
(tuff,andesitebasalt,perlitesandandscoriaquarries).Manufacturingindustry,thevolumeofwhichisincreasingyearbyyear,hasasignificantroleintheriverbasinindustry;currentlyitconstitutes84%ofthetotalindustry.Table14:StructureoftheindustrialproductofMetsamorRiverbasinbybranchesofindustry,%
Branchesofindustry
Volumeofproduct,%Power,gas,steamandgoodqualityairsupply
12Miningindustryandoperationofopenmines 3Manufacturingindustry
84Watersupply,sewerage,wastemanagementandprocessing 1
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2013Manufacturingindustryhasincreasedattheexpenseoffoodstuff,includingproductionofdrinksandprocessingofnonmetallicmineral
resources.Currently there arebusinessesmanufacturing
smallandmediumagriculturalproductsintheriverbasin,andthelargestofthemareArmavirMapandSardarapatcompanies.There
are plenty of reserves of construction materials in the river
basin. Minerals are
mainlypresentedbytuffs,andesitesbasalt,perlitesandsandscoria.Mines
intheriverbasinareoperatedby 93 organizations, 50 ofwhich are
currently operational.Only in 420 hectares of lands in
17communitiesofArmavirregionthereare21landusersextractingmineralsfromdeposits.Table15:ProductionandsaleoftheindustrialproductsofMetsamorRiverbasin,bytypesofeconomicactivity
Economicindicators
Volumeoftheproducedproduct(expressedincurrentprices),million
AMDVolumeofthesold
product,millionAMD
Volumeoftheindustrialproduct,including: 39,015
40,333Power,gas,steamandgoodqualityairsupply
4,682 4,911
Miningindustryandoperationofopenmines
1,125 1,558
Manufacturingindustry 32,773
33,467Watersupply,sewerage,wastemanagementandprocessing
435 397
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2012;RepublicofArmeniaAragatsotnMarzpetaran,SocioEconomicDevelopmentPlanof
theRepublicofArmeniaAragatsotnMarz
for20112014,2011;RepublicofArmeniaArmavirMarzpetaran,SocioEconomicDevelopmentPlanoftheRepublicofArmeniaArmavirMarzfor20112014,2011ArmavirMachinetool
Construction Factory produces gold pieces (up to 9 kg each),
through itsunique ultrahigh precision pressure oven. It also
produces iron balls for Armenian
CopperProgram,AkhtalaOreMiningPlant,DrmbonGoldFactoryandothercompanies.
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Table16:RelativelylargeenterprisesinMetsamorRiverbasinNameoftheenterprise
Region Fieldofactivity
ArmavirMAPCJSC Armavir CanandfoodproductionLevonLLC Armavir
CanandfoodproductionBiokatPlusLLC Talin
FoodstuffanddairyproductionArmavirFarmerCJSC Armavir
FisheryArmeniaVineCJSC Talin ProductionofdrinksGoldenGrapeArmasOJSC
Armavir
ProcessingofagriculturalproductsArmavirMachineToolConstructionFactory
Armavir MachinerypartsSardarapatCJSC Baghramyan
CanandfoodproductionArmavirBranchofYerevanBrandyFactoryCJSC
Armavir
ProductionofdrinksSource:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2013TheMetsamorNuclearPowerPlant,thecapacityofwhichis430MW,islocatedontheterritoryofthe
river basin. The nuclear power plant abstracts water from the
Metsamor River to cool
itsgeneratorsabout2m3/sec.TheMetsamorNuclearPowerPlant,whichissituated4kmnorthfromthe
Metsamor River source. This may have the greatest possible impact
on the
environment.ConsideringthatthetermofoperationofMetsamorNPPblockhasexpired,fromenvironmentalandsafety
perspective, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and EU
countries
recommendsuspendingactivitiesoftheoldblockandconstructinganewone.Duetoinabilitytoattractsufficientfinancialresources,theconstructionofthenewnuclearenergyblockwithinstalledcapacityof1060MWwaspostponeduntil2026.
2.6 Tourism
TourismisinsufficientlydevelopedinAkhuryanBMA.AkhuryanRiverbasinisrichinmineralwater,picturesque
sites of mountainous rivers and small lakes, as well as numerous
historical
andarchitecturalmonumentsandobelisks,includingMarmashenmedievalmonastery,Harichmonasterycomplex,whichhavegreatrecreationandtourismdevelopmentpotential.However,atpresentthispotentialisnotadequatelyused.MetsamorRiverbasinisauniquemuseum,wherehistoricalmonumentscharacteristictoalmostallperiods
of the Armenian history, or their testimonies are preserved.
Urartian castles
(Hnaberd,Tsaghkahovit),andShenik(57thcentury),Mastara(6thcentury),Garnahovit(67thcentury)churchesare
well preserved. Metsamor archaeological museum, Armenia state
ethnographic museum inSardarapat, the biggest groundwater flow in
Armenia, Ayghrlich, old pagan center
Bagaran,Sardarapatmemorialarealsothere.ThereareruinsofcastlesandspiritualmonumentsinTalin.On
the left side of YerevanArmavir highway, between Aknalich and
Taronik
villages,Metsamorfortressislocated.ThereareruinsofprimevalfortressesandmausoleumsinthevicinityofAknalich,whichshowthatthisterritoryanditsadjacentsettlementshavebeenpopulatedsinceancienttimes.Providedthereisnecessarycareandinvestments,thelakemaybecomeanimportanttouristicsite.Fromallofthehistorical,culturalandnaturalvaluesmentionedabove,touristictraffic
isobservedonly towards the Sardarapatmemorial. Considering the lack
of adequate road networks, hotels,resortsandservices
intheAkhuryanBMA,tourismhasnotdevelopedyet.ThatweaklydevelopedtourismsectordoesnotcausesignificantpressureonwaterresourcesoftheBMA.
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2.7. Solid waste landfills Issues related towastemanagement
inAkhuryan BMA are a priority and urgent, due to lack
ofsanitarymunicipalwaste landfills,compliantwith
therequirementsofurbandevelopment, lackofseparate collection of
industrial andmunicipalwastes, aswell as lack of actions aimed
atwasteprevention, collection, transportation, storage, processing,
recycling, reclamation,
removal,decontaminationanddisposal.Gyumri,Artik,MaralikandAkhurikmunicipallandfillsinAkhuryanRiverbasinareinpoorcondition.The
landfillofGyumri is located
intheNorthwesternpartofthecity,AkhuryanRivervalley,whichhas
approximately 40 hectares of territory and lacks a sanitary
protection zone of 1,000 m.Registration of accumulation of
industrial and municipal wastes is not carried out.
Particularlyhazardouswastesarenotseparatedandtheyaredumped
intothegeneral
landfill.Therearealsoconsiderableconstructionwasteandmunicipalsolidwasteaccumulationsinvarioussectionsofthecity
gorges,watercourses,etc.,whichsignificantly
impacttheecologicalstatusofthecity.Duringrainfallsand
snowmelts,wasteaccumulated in the cityarea iswashedwithwater,and
the
latterresultsininfiltrationofhazardouschemicalcompositionsintogroundwaterbasins.InMetsamorRiverbasin,aswell,industrialandconstructionwastesarepracticallyremovedtourbanandrurallandfills,togetherwithsolidmunicipalwastes.WasteremovalintheriverbasinisnotcarriedoutincompliancewiththeRALawOnWastes(adoptedin2004)andotherregulatorydocuments,which
raisesprobabilityofnegative impact from solidwasteaccumulationsand
landfillsonhumanhealth and natural environment, particularly on
land and, through infiltration, onwater.
Currentlygarbageandwasteremovalisnotfullycarriedoutintheriverbasin.Currently,afisheryisoperatingontheterritoryoftheformerwarehouseoftoxicchemicalsinJraratcommunity.However,therearehundredsofkilogramsoftoxicchemicalsintwopreservedbuildingsofthewarehouse.Apartofthesechemicalsisinsacks,someinbarrels,andtherestisscatteredallovertheterritoryofthewarehouse.Sacksarewornout,andtoxicchemicalsspreadouteasilyfromdestroyedbuildingstothefisheriesandtheenvironment,bywindandrainwater.
In2011,aCzechcompanynamedArnikatooksamplesthereanddiscoveredthatDDTcontentexceeded50percentinsomesacks.Inoneoftheexaminedsacks1kgoftoxicchemicalscontained647gDDT.SacksalsocontainedDDTdissolvingsubstances,suchasmetabolites,DDTandothersubstances,whichallhavemajortoxicproperties.Inthesurroundingsofthewarehouse1kgofsoilcontained280mgDDT.Anareaof45thousandm2adjacenttoSasunikcommunityhasturnedintoalandfill,whichhasputthecommunityintopoorecologicalconditions.
Figure10:OpenburningofwasteinSasuniklandfill(Photoby:EPIRBproject,2012)
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Figure11:LocationofsolidwastelandfillsandmainfishfarmsinAkhuryanBMA(Datasource:GeoinfoLLC,2013)2.8.
Transport
ThetotallengthofroadsinAkhuryanBMAis1,620km(seethetableandmapbelowfordetails).Table17:RoadsofAkhuryanBMAbytheirsignificance
Area Totalroads,km
Interstateroads,km
Nationalroads,km
Communityroads,km
AkhuryanRiverbasin 830 114 433 283MetsamorRiverbasin 790 260 310
220TotalinAkhuryanBMA 1,620 374 743 503
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2013
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Figure12:MaintransportnetworkofAkhuryanBMA(Datasource:GeoinfoLLC,2013)CargoandpassengertransportationinAkhuryanRiverbasiniscarriedoutbyroads,railwaysandair.Shirakairport
inGyumri isoperating
intheriverbasin,whichprovidesflightconnectionwithCIScountriesandiscapableofreceivinganytypeofairtransport.However,
the main passenger and cargo transportation is carried out by
roads. The
interstateM1YerevanGyumriBavraroadpassesthroughtheterritoryoftheriverbasin.
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During the last years the community roads in the river basin
were renovated. However,
manyintercommunityroadsarestillinapoorcondition.PassengerandcargotransportationinMetsamorRiverbasinismainlycarriedoutbyroadtransport.M3
roadof state significance (borderof
TurkeyMargaraArmavirVanadzorTashirstateborderofGeorgia)andM5roadof
interstatesignificance(YerevanArmavir)passthroughtheterritoryoftheriverbasin.Roadsofinterstatesignificanceintheriverbasinarecurrentlyinarelativelysatisfactorycondition.Aconsiderablepartofroadsof
localsignificance in theriverbasinhasnotbeenrenovated
forages,duetolackoffinancialresources.Table18:PassengerandcargotransportationsinAkhuryanBMAin2011
Area Cargotransported,thousandtons
Cargocirculation,milliont/km
Traffic
Passengercirculation,millionpassenger/km
AkhuryanRiverbasin 445 24 470000 76MetsamorRiverbasin 390 35
510000 89TotalinAkhuryanBMA 835 59 980000 165
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,20132.9.
Future infrastructure development
TwonewreservoirsareplannedtobeconstructedinAkhuryanBMA.SelavMastara
reservoir will be located in the territory of Myasnikyan community
of Armavirprovince,on SelavMastaraRiver. The reservoirwillhave
10.2millionm3overall storage
volume(plannedheightofthedamis30m).ItwillcollectthefreeflowofSelavMastaraRiverinthesectionbetweenAkhuryanReservoirandtheheadstructureoftheTalinirrigationsystem.Theconstructionofthereservoirwillenabletoirrigate4384haofagriculturallandsoftheregion.Aspotentialfunder,Kuwait
Foundation of Arabic Economic Development is planning to have
appraisalmission.
Theestimatedcostforconstructionofthereservoiris27mlnUSD.Another
project is related to rehabilitation of the partially constructed
Kaps reservoir.With thefundingof theGermanKfWBank,
theselectedconsultant in2013started the feasibilitystudy
forrehabilitationofKapsReservoirandconstructionofGravityIrrigationSystem.Intheinitialphaseitisanticipated
to rehabilitate thedam at a low level,providing about6millionm3
capacity and thegravitysupplyof2,200haof
irrigationcurrentlysuppliedbypumpsornonirrigated.Theprojectedvolumeofthereservoirafterrehabilitationis90mlnm3.Theestimatedcostforactivityis75.4mlnUSD.
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3.TYPESOFPRESSURES3.1. Point source pollution
3.1.1.Communalwastewaterdischarge,includingthewastewaterpitsThissectionprovidesassessmentofimpactofcommunalwastewatersinthebasinonthequalityofwaterresources.Herethesimplifiedmodelofpointsourcepollutionhasbeenapplied.Thiswasalsoused
forassessmentof
impactofcommunalwastewatersonthequalityofwaterresourcesoftheDebed
River (Monitoring program proposal for pilotDebed River basin, in
compliancewith theprinciplesof theWaterFrameworkDirective,2011)and
theAghstevRiver (Monitoringprogramproposal
forpilotAghstevRiverbasin, incompliancewith theprinciplesof
theWaterFrameworkDirective,2011).TheimpactofsewagewaterwasconsideredasapointpressureinAkhuryanBMA,andtheassessmentoftheimpactwasconductedbasedonthenumberofpopulation,accordingtothe
methodology described in the work of Novotny V., Water Quality,
Diffuse Pollution andWatershedManagement, 2003. According to that
study, a person daily produces the
followingeffectsonthewater(Table22).Table19:ImpactofurbanwastewateraccordingtopopulationnumberBOD5
5060g/resident*dayCODfullorCOD(Bichromate)
90g/resident*daySuspendedparticles(SP) 90g/resident*dayPhosphorus
3g/resident*dayNitrogentotal 15.5gN/resident*dayAmmonium
10.3g/resident*day
Source:NovotnyV.,WaterQuality,DiffusePollutionandWatershedManagement,2003According
to these values, the pressure from population of citieswas
calculated, based on
thenumberofpopulation.Subsequently,havingthevolumeofsewagewater,theconcentrations(mg/l)oftheabovementionedcomponentsinsewagewaterwerecalculated.Havingtheinflowrateoftheaforementioned
components in sewagewater, aswell as the value ofminimum river
flow, it
ispossibletocalculatetheexpectedconcentrationofeachcomponentintheriverwater,byusingthesimplifiedmodel.Pollutantconcentration(C)inthelocationofthepointpressureinriverwaterwascalculatedbyusingthefollowingformula:
C=(Q0C0+Q1C1)/(Q0+Q1),whereQ0istheriverdischargebeforethesourcepressurepoint,C0isthepollutantconcentrationinthe
samepointof the riverwater,Q1 is thevolumeofwastewatersdischarged
in the
locationofpressure,C1isthepollutantconcentrationinwastewaters.Following
the same logic, the concentrationof pollutants penetrated into the
river flow
throughwaterdischargewascalculated,whichwereviewedasaquantityofpointpressure:
C=Q1C1/(Q0+Q1).Inordertoassessthepressureofcommunalwastewaterdischarge,anapproachtakingintoaccountthenumberofpopulationwasused.Weather
is a variable included to calculate theBOD5
value.AccordingtotheWaterQualityGuidelinesMemorandum#1of1978,1mg/lofBOD5isconsideredasamaximumpermissibleamountinsummerlowwaterconditionsandanyexceedancesisviewedasasignificant
pressure. Based on the wellknown standard, according to which the
BOD5
loaddischargedbywastewatersiscalculatedtobeN*60g/day,whereNisthenumberofpopulation,the
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concentration (C) of thispollutantwas calculated at
thepointofdischarge in riverwaterby thefollowingformula:
C=(60*N*1000)/(24*60*60)mg/l.
Gyumri, Artik and Maralik towns are viewed as potential sources
of significant pressures
inAkhuryanRiverbasin.Usingtheabovementionedmethod,theimpactofthesesourcesofpressurewasassessed.Theresultsofthisassessmentaresummarizedinthetableprovidedbelow:Table20:PressurefromsewagewaterofthetownsofAkhuryanRiverbasin
Settlement Population BOD5,mg/l Suspendedparticles,mg/l
Phosphorus,mg/l
Nitrogen,mg/l
Gyumri 121,976 24.2 36.2 1.2 6.2ArtikandMaralik 24,932 40.8 61.2
2.0 10.5
Total 253,994 47.7 71.6 2.4
12.3Source:CensusdataofOctober2011,NationalStatisticalSurvey,2012;GeoinfoLLC,2013
Takingintoaccountthevaluesofthemodel,theprojectedvaluesofBOD5,suspendedparticles,totalnitrogen
and total phosphorus were calculated for Akhuryan River basin.
These values
werecomparedwiththeaveragedvaluesrecordedattheEIMCswaterqualitymonitoringposts(#34ontheAkhuryanRiverand#38ontheKarkachunRiver).Theresultsareprovidedinthetablebelow:Table21:ProjectedvaluesinwaterqualityindicatorsofAkhuryanRiverbasinandactualmonitoringdata
BOD5,mg/lSuspended
particles,mg/lPhosphorus,mg/l
Nitrogen,mg/l
BackgroundconcentrationsoftheAkhuryanRiver 3.0 25 0.086
0.8CalculatedincreaseinGyumri 23.2 34.8 1.2
6.0CalculatedincreaseinArtikandMaralik 40.8 61.2 2.0
10.5CalculatedincreaseinAkhuryanRiverbasin 47.7 71.6 2.4
12.3Modelcalculatedvalue(observationpost#34) 44.1 88.26 2.1
11.4Actualmonitoringdata(observationpost#34) 3 208.6 0.24
4.5Thedifferenceofmodelandactualconcentrations,% 93 136 89
61Modelcalculatedvalue(observationpost#38) 38.8 80.8 1.9
10Actualmonitoringdata(observationpost#38) 2.7 70 0.26
5Thedifferenceofmodelandactualconcentrations,% 93 13 86 50
Source:GeoinfoLLC,2013The resultsshow that there
isasignificantdifferencebetweenwaterqualitymonitoringdataandmodelcalculateddata.Itisalsonoteworthytomentionthatassessmentofthedifferenceofmodelvaluesandactualmonitoringdataisalmostthesameinbothobservationpoints.Amongthereasonsfor
such discrepancy on should mention that the point nature of the
pressure of communalwastewatersanduseofthemodelweremostprobably
incompleteor limited.Firstly,wastewatersare not totally treated,
and, secondly, there are great losses in sewage pipelines,which
lead todispersionofwastewatersandreductionof the
impactonriverwaterquality.Theprocessofselftreatmentalsoneedstobetakenintoaccount,whichisapparentfromrelativelylowvaluesofactualconcentrationsofnitrogenandphosphorus.However
the data show that communalwastewater has significant pressure on
the quality ofwaterresourcesoftheAkhuryanRiverbasin.
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Armavir,MetsamorandTalin
townsareviewedaspotentialsourcesofsignificantpressures
fromcommunalwastewaterinMetsamorRiverbasin.Therearesewagewatercollectorsinthesetowns,which
discharge the collected wastewater into open water bodies without
any treatment.
ThesewagepipelinesofArmavirandMetsamortownsareconnectedtothecommunalwastewatersbutare
discharged into the Metsamor River through the sewage pipeline,
practically without anytreatment.Wastewaters from the Talin sewage
collector are discharged into the SelavMastarainternal stream bed,
thus discharging again into the upper section of theMetsamor River.
TheassessmentoftheimpactofcommunalwastewatersoftheriverbasinonqualityofwaterresourcesoftheMetsamorRiverhasbeenimplementedusingthesimplifiedmodelofpointsourcepollution,describedabove(Table25).Table22:PressurefromsewagewaterofthetownsofMetsamorRiverbasin
Settlement Population BOD5,mg/sec CODBichromat
SP,mg/secPhosphorus,
mg/secNitrogentotal,
mg/secAmmoniummg/sec
Armavir 29,319 23.61 35.42 35.42 0.57 6.10 4.05Metsamor 9,191
7.29 10.94 10.94 0.18 1.88 1.25Talin 5,310 3.96 5.94 5.94 0.10 1.02
0.68
Total 211,402 174.31 261.46 261.46 4.22 45.03
29.92Source:CensusdataofOctober2011,NationalStatisticalSurvey,2012;GeoinfoLLC,2013Takingintoaccountthevaluesofthemodel,theprojectedvaluesofBOD5,suspendedparticles,totalnitrogen,ammoniumand
totalphosphoruswerecalculated
forMetsamorRiverbasin.Thevalueswereobtainedbydividingthepollutantinflowratebythewaterflow.Thesevalueswerecomparedwiththeaveragedvalue(20092012)oftheEIMC40thobservationpoint(11kmaboveEchmiadzin)formonitoringofwaterqualityoftheMetsamorRiver.Theresultsareprovidedbelow:Table23:ProjectedincrementsinwaterqualityindicatorsofMetsamorRiverbasinandactualmonitoringdata
Valuesofindicatorconcentrations
BOD5,mgD/l
CODfullmgD/l
SPmg/l
Phosphorus,mg/l
NitrogenmNg/l
Ammoniummg/sec
BackgroundconcentrationsofMetsamor 3.0 10 6.2 0.174 2.27
0.103CalculatedincreaseinMetsamor 5.56 8.33 8.33 0.13 1.44
0.95CalculatedincreaseinArmavir 1.72 2.57 2.57 0.04 0.44
0.29CalculatedincreaseinTalin 0.93 1.40 1.40 0.02 0.24
0.16Totalestimatedincreasebycalculationofthenumberofpopulationofthreetowns
8.20 12.30 12.30 0.20 2.12
1.41Totalestimatedincreasebycalculationofthetotalnumberofpopulationinriverbasin
41.50 62.25 62.25 1.00 10.72
7.12Expectedmodelvaluebycalculationofthenumberofpopulationofthreetowns
11.2 22.30 18.5 0.374 4.39
1.513Expectedmodelvaluebycalculationofthetotalnumberofpopulationinriverbasin
44.5 72.25 68.45 1.174 12.99
7.103Actualmonitoringdata(observationpost#40) 3.0 29 22,5 0.281 4.2
0.89Thedifferenceofmodelandactualconcentrations 41.5 43.25 45.95
0.893 9.09 6.213
Source:GeoinfoLLC,2013
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The resultsshow that there
isasignificantdifferencebetweenwaterqualitymonitoringdataandmodelcalculateddata,asinthecaseofAkhuryanRiverbasin.Thisdifferencealsocouldbeexplainedbythefactthatrecognitionofthepointnatureofpressureofcommunalwastewatersanduseofthemodelaremostprobably
incompleteor limited. Firstly,wastewatersarenot totally
treated,and,secondly, therearegreat losses insewagepipelines,which
lead todispersionofwastewatersandreductionofthe
impactonriverwaterquality.However,
ifwetakeonlythecumulativecommunalpressureofthethree
largesettlementsoftheMetsamorRiverbasinthroughthesewagepipeline,themodel
calculateddatawillbequite consistentwith actualmonitoringdata,
except
theBOD5indicator.Theprocessofselftreatmentalsoneedstobetakenintoaccount,whichisapparentfromrelatively
low values of actual concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. In
general,
theaforementionedresultsshowthatcommunalwastewatershavesignificantpressureonqualityofwaterresourcesoftheMetsamorRiverbasin.3.1.2.WastewaterdischargefromfoodindustryFood
industrywastewaters discharge into the sewage network in Akhuryan
andMetsamor
riverbasins,thereforetheimpactofthesewaterflowsisaddedtotheimpactofsewagepipeline.The
86% of industrial enterprises in Akhuryan River basin is
centralized in Gyumri town, andindustrial flowsdischarge into the
sewagenetwork, thusadding the impactof these flows to
theimpactofsewagepipeline.ThepressureoffoodenterprisesonqualityofwaterresourcesoftheAkhuryanRiver
isalsoconsideredassignificant, taking
intoconsiderationmonitoringdata in
themonitoringpost#34(RiverAkhuryan,5kmdownstreamofGyumri).Thevolumeofall
industrial flows inMetsamorRiverbasinmakes0.015m3/sec. in
total.TheyaredischargedintogeneralurbansewagepipelineandthendumpedintotheMetsamorRiver.IndustrialflowsofTalinarealsotreatedandfinallydischargedintotheMetsamorRiver.Thequantityoffoodindustrywastewaters
isactuallysmall
inArmavirandTalin.Forexample,thevolumeofalltypesofindustrialwastewatersdischarged
intoArmavirsewagepipeline
ishalfofthevolumeofcommunalwastewaters.Theproportionoffood
industrydischarge isnot identified,therefore, it is
impossibletodifferentiatethe foodenterprisepressure
fromcommunalpressure.However,
foodenterprisesalsohavesignificantpressureonqualityofwaterresourcesoftheMetsamorRiver.Table24:RelativelylargeenterprisesofMetsamorRiverbasin
Nameoftheenterprise Region FieldofactivityArmavirMAPCJSC Armavir
Cannedfoodproduction,foodproductionLevonLtd. Armavir
Cannedfoodproduction,foodproductionBiokatPlusLtd. Talin
FoodanddairyproductionArmavorFermerCJSC Armavir
FishfarmingArmeniaWineCJSC Talin
DrinkproductionGoldenGrapeArmasOJSC Armavir
ProcessingofagriculturalproductsSardarapatCJSC Baghramyan
Cannedfoodproduction,foodproductionZovk Armavir
BeverageproductionLocalBranchofYerevanBrandyFactoryCJSC Armavir
DrinkproductionBreadbakingplant Armavir
BreadproductionBreadbakingplant Talin Breadproduction
Source:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2013
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3.1.3.WastewaterdischargefromnonfoodindustryandminingInorder to
assess impactsofmining andother industrialdischarge
inAkhuryanRiverbasin,
thedynamicsofvaluesofmetalconcentrationsacrosstheriverstream(betweentheobservationpostsand
in theobservationposts)wasstudied,and
relevantclassificationwasmade.Theclassificationwasbasedonannualaverageconcentrationvaluesof
indicators for theperiodof20102012.Theclassificationwasmade
according to the Resolution #75N of theGovernment of Armenia of
27January2011OnEstablishingthenormsforassuringwaterqualityofeachbasinmanagementarea,dependinguponlocalpeculiarities(Annex1).As
the classification isbasedonnaturalbackground
concentrationsofmetals, it allows assessingindustrial pressure.
Owing to the impact of sewage water of Gyumri town, pollution loads
ofchromium,nickel,zinc,molybdenum,cadmium,antimonyandleadincreasedintheAkhuryanRiver(30%wastakenasamaximumpermissibleconcentrationusingexpertjudgmentmethod).Pollutionloadsof
sodium, calcium, vanadium, iron,manganese, cobalt and lead
increased across the riverstream up to Gyumri and further. Despite
the increase, the indicators were still classified
asexcellentandgoodquality,accordingtotheecologicalnormsofclassificationofwaterquality.Pollution
loads of sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, bromine, manganese,
strontium,molybdenum,antimony,sulphateandchlorideionsandmineralizationvalueshaveincreasedintheKarkachunRiver,asaresultofextractionoftuffandothermineralsinArtikregion.Classificationofthe
abovementioned indicatorswas also carried out. Out of these
indicators, only sodium andammoniumwere classified as
poor,manganese andmineralization moderate, and the
restwereclassifiedasthosehavinggoodorexcellentstatus.InthelowersectionsoftheAshotsktributaryoftheAkhuryanRiverthereareironandmolybdenumoredeposits,whichhaveneverbeenunderexploitation.Drainagewaters
fromthesesitescontainhighconcentrationsofarsenic,titanium,manganese,nickel,iron,chrome,boron.AccordingtodatafromEIMC,
theconcentrationofarsenic inAshotskRivermouthexceeds
theconcentrationat
theriversourcebyalmost50times.Asaresult,thewaterqualityinAshotskRivermouthcorrespondstomoderate(III)class.The
iron andmolybdenumoredepositsofAshotsk regionpose
significantpressureonAshotsktributaryofAkhuryanRiver.
Extractionandprocessingofconstructionmaterialshas
significantimpactontheKarkachunRiver.Constructionmaterials,particularly
tuff,andesitebasalt,perlitesandsandscoriaeareextracted
inMetsamorRiverbasin.Currentlythereare50minesintheriverbasin.Thereare35operationalpitsinArmavirregion,ontotallandareaof420hectares.Dischargefrommines,thelayerwashedfromsurface,
operation of extracting equipment, discharge of cooling liquids
from crushing andprocessing activities have certain impacts on
water quality of the Metsamor River.
However,presentlyitisimpossibletodifferentiatetheportionoftheseimpactsintheoverallpollution,duetoabsenceofrelevantdata.Most
industrialdischarges come fromArmavirHoktemberyaniFerosplavCJSC,at
thevolumeof485.1 t/year. Sulfurdioxidegenerally is themajorpartof
thesedischarges,partially covering
theriverbasinassulfuricacidandcausingacidicerosioninthesurfacelandlayer.Asaresult,anumberofmetalsdissolve
from the soil andpass intowater environment,whichmaypartially
appear
ingroundwater,andprimarilyinMetsamorRiverwater,sedimentsandirrigationwater.
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Inordertoassessimpactsofminingandotherindustrialdischarges,thedynamicsofvaluesofmetalconcentrations
across the river stream (between and in observation points) was
studied, andrelevant classification was made. The classification
was based on annual average
concentrationvaluesofindicatorsfortheperiodof20102012andwasmadeaccordingtotheResolution#75Nofthe
Government of Armenia of 27 January 2011 On Establishing the norms
for
assuringwaterqualityofeachbasinmanagementarea,dependinguponlocalpeculiarities.As
the classification isbasedonnaturalbackground
concentrationsofmetals, it allows
assessingindustrialpressure.Despitetheincreaseofconcentrationvaluesofthemostoftheindicatorsintheupstream
observation point and across the river compared to background
concentrations,waterqualityisstillclassifiedashavingexcellentandgoodstatus.Thus,waterqualityisnotsubjecttoanysignificantchange.Taking
intoaccount theachievedresultsand
thesmallquantityofArmavirindustrialwater flows (0.015m3/sec),
itcouldbeconcluded thatdischargesofArmavir
industrialwastewatersdonothaveasignificantimpactonwaterqualityoftheMetsamorRiver.RelevantobservationsandlaboratoryanalysisareconductedbytheEIMCandNuclearPowerPlant.Concentrationvaluesofthekeyindicators(Pb,Cs,Sr,U,etc.)correspondtobackgroundvaluesandthey
are typical of the other river basins, aswell.Results of the
studies show that
theNuclearPowerPlantdoesnothaveimpactonwaterqualityofthebasin.3.1.4.SolidwastesThereare6officiallyoperatinglandfillsinGyumri,Artik,Maralik,Armavir,TalinandMetsamortownsofAkhuryanandMetsamorriverbasins.Allthementionedlandfillsareinapoorcondition.Landfillshaveturned
intoareasof irregularwastepiles.They lack
filtratedwastewatercollectionsystems,and,asaresult,wastewaters
infiltrate into soils,causingpollutionofgroundand
surfacewaters.Although
thelandfillsareinapoorconditionandpresentasourceofenvironmentalpollution,theycannothavestrongpressuresonwaterresourcesoftheriverbasinastheyaresmallinsize,excepttheoneinGyumri.ThelandfillofGyumri,withtotalareaof40hectares,issituatedneartheAkhuryanRiverandithasanegativeimpactontheAkhuryanRiver,theriversectionlocatedamongthesettlementsfromArapiandAkhurik.Thewaterflowsgeneratedfromwashingof
landfillsreducewaterqualitydirectlyor indirectly,
leakingintogroundwater.InMetsamor River basin industrial and
constructionwastes are transported togetherwith solidwastes to
urban and rural landfills. Some wastes are stored in industrial
sites and reused forindustrial and other purposes, (i.e. the slag
of ferromolybdenum). Another example includes
theresiduesofbrandyfactoryproduction,approximately3000t/year,whichisaccumulatedrightontheterritory
of the factory. Currently this residue is used for reclamation of
saline, alkali soil
andfertilizationofagriculturalcrops.Theresiduesofgrapesafterthelastpressingisapproximately2000tonsannuallyandtheseareusedasforage.ItcanbeconcludedthatsolidwasteshavecertainlocalimpactonqualityofwaterresourcesoftheAkhuryanBMA.Howeveritcannotbeconsideredassignificantpressureduetospatialdistributionandsmallfootagearea.
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3.2. Diffuse sources of pollution
3.2.1.CultivationofagriculturalcropsanduseoffertilizersAbout35%ofagriculturallandsintheAkhuryanRiverbasin80,500ha,arearablelands.In2013,61,309haofarablelandsoftheriverbasinwerecultivated(Figure12).
Figure13:AgriculturalCropsintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,hectares,asof2013.(Datasource:AnnualReportoftheShirakMarzpetaranonSocialEconomicSituationintheShirakMarz,NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2012).Grainscropsaccountedfor69%oftheagriculturalcropsintheriverbasin.AccordingtoinformationobtainedfromtheShirakMarzpetaran,4,250tonsofnitrogen
fertilizerswereusedforagriculturalcrops in the riverbasin
in2013.About70 kilogramsofnitrogen fertilizerswereapplied
for1ha,whereasonaverage150200kgisrequiredfor1hawithsimilaragriculturalcrops.Duetoalackofdisaggregateddataonapplicationofthefertilizersinspecificareasoftheriverbasin,andbasedonthe
assumption that fertilizers aremainly appliedevenlyon agricultural
lands, it is assumed thatnitrogenfertilizersused inthe
intheriverbasin
in2013cannotposesignificantpressureonwaterquality.About24%oftheagricultural
lands intheMetsamorRiverbasin54,456ha,arearable lands.
In201343,150hawerecultivated,whichcomprise79%ofthetotalarable
landsofthebasin(Figure13).According to informationobtained from
theAragatsotnandArmavirMarzpetarans,5,100
tonsofnitrogenfertilizerswereusedforagriculturalcropsintheriverbasinin2013.About118kilogramsofnitrogenfertilizerswereappliedfor1ha,whereasonaverage150200kg
isrequiredfor1hawithsimilaragriculturalcrops.Duetoa
lackofdisaggregateddataonapplicationofthefertilizersinspecific
locationsoftheriverbasins,andbasedontheassumptionthatfertilizersaremainlyappliedevenlyonagriculturallands,it
isconcludedthatnitrogen fertilizersused inthe in
theAkhuryanBMAdonotposesignificantpressureonwaterquality.
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Figure14:AgriculturalCropsintheMetsamorRiverbasin,hectares,asof2013.(Datasource:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014;AnalyticalInformationCenteroftheEconomicReforms,AchievementsofAragatsotnMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012;andAchievementsofArmavirMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012)3.2.2.LivestockproductionManurefromlivestockproductionisoneofthepressuresposedonwaterresourcesoftheAkhuryanBMA.Manure
iswashed intosurfacewatersand infiltrates intogroundwaterresources,
leadingtoincreasedconcentrationsofnitrogen,phosphorousandorganiccompoundsinthewaters.Livestock
production is a traditional branch of agriculture in theAkhuryan
River basin.
Pasturesoccupy55%oftheterritoryoftheriverbasin.Naturalclimaticconditionsandextensivepasturesarefavorablefordevelopmentofcattlebreeding,particularly
inAniandArtikregionsoftheAkhuryanRiverbasin(Figure14).
Figure15:LivestockintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,asof2013,thousandcapita(Datasource:AnnualReportoftheShirakMarzpetaranonSocialEconomicSituationintheShirakMarzin2013,2014;NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014)
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After collapseof the SovietUnion and subsequent economic crisis,
the totalnumberof
livestocksignificantlydecreasedintheAkhuryanRiverbasin.However,duringtherecent10yearsanincreaseofthelivestockcapitahasbeenrecoded.DataonpollutionloadsofnitrogenandphosphorousfromthelivestockproductionintheAkhuryanRiverbasinasof2013ispresentedinthetablebelow.Table25:AnnualpollutionloadsoffromlivestockproductionintheAkhuryanRiverbasin,ton/year
Livestock Capita Normfrom1animal,ton/year Total,ton/yearManure
Nitrogentotal Phosphorus Manure Nitrogentotal Phosphorus
Cattle 105,700 8.00 0.0055 0.0013 845,600 581.35 137.41Pigs
15,700 2.00 0.0059 0.0020 31,400 92.63 31.4Sheepandgoats 86,400
0.40 0.0107 0.0022 34,560 924.48 190.08Poultry 315,000 0.04 0.0130
0.0041 12,600 4095 1291.5Total 924,160 5,693.46 1,650.39
Source:EnvironmentalImpactMonitoringCenteroftheMinistryofNatureProtectionoftheRepublicofArmenia,2013;EnvironmentalDefenseFundScorecard(www.scorecard.org),Animalwasteanationaloverview,2000IntheMetsamorRiverbasin,where47%ofthebasinarea
ispastures, livestockproduction
isalsoamongthetraditionalbranchesofagriculture(Figure15).
Figure16:LivestockintheMetsamorRiverbasin,asof2013,thousandcapita(Datasource:NationalStatisticalServiceoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014;AnalyticalInformationCenteroftheEconomicReforms,AchievementsofAragatsotnMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012;andAchievementsofArmavirMarzoftheRepublicofArmeniain20072011,2012)DataonpollutionloadsofnitrogenandphosphorousfromthelivestockproductionintheMetsamorRiverbasinasof2013ispresented
inthetablebelow.Theresultsshowthatquantitiesofnitrogenandphosphorusdischargesboth
intheAkhuryanRiverbasinandMetsamorRiverbasinareratherlarge.BasinanalysisindicatesthatthehighestconcentrationsofthesepollutantsareobservedintheKarkachun
river basin of the Akhuryan River basin Ani and Artik regions,
aswell as Talin andBaghramyanregionsoftheMetsamorRiverbasin.
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Table26:AnnualpollutionloadsoffromlivestockproductionintheMetsamorRiverbasin,ton/yearLivestock
Capita Normfrom1animal,ton/year Total,ton/yearManure Nitrogentotal
Phosphorus Manure Nitrogentotal Phosphorus
Cattle 82,400 8.00 0.0055 0.0013 659,200 453.2 107.12Pigs 36,100
2.00 0.0059 0.0020 72,200 212.99 72.2Sheepandgoats 22,200 0.40
0.0107 0.0022 8,800 237.54 48.84Poultry 320,000 0.04 0.0130 0.0041
12,800 4,160 1,312Total 753,080 5,063.73 1,540.16
Source:EnvironmentalImpactMonitoringCenteroftheMinistryofNatureProtectionoftheRepublicofArmenia,2013;EnvironmentalDefenseFundScorecard(www.scorecard.org),Animalwasteanationaloverview,2000LivestockproductionishavingasignificantpressureonqualityofwaterresourcesintheAkhuryanandMetsamorriverbasins.Livestockproductionmay
also lead to overgrazing, resulting in lossof vegetation cover and
landerosion,whichposepressureonqualityofwaterresources.Maindataon
thepastures,aswellas largeandsmallcattle in
theAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasinsin2013ispresentedinthetablebelow.Table27:DataonpasturesandcattleintheAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins,asof2013
Area Pastures,ha
Largecattle,animals
Smallcattle,animals
Pastureperalargecattle,ha
Pastureperasmallcattle,ha
AkhuryanRiverbasin 126,500 105,700 86,400 1.19
1.46MetsamorRiverbasin 106,643 82,400 104,100 1.29 1.02
According to standards currently applied in Armenia, 0.5 ha of
pasture is required as
sufficientgrazingareaforonelargecattle,and0.05haforsheepandgoats.Basedonthecalculationsmadeabove,thereisnoovergrazingintheAkhuryanandMetsamorRiverbasins,andovergrazinghasnosignificantpressureonwaterbodiesoftheAkhuryanBMA.
3.2.3.VehicletransportM1YerevanTalinGyumriBavraRAstateborder(withGeorgia)andM7RAborder(withTurkey)GyumriVanadzorhighwaysarehighwayswithrelativehightrafficintheAkhuryanRiverbasin.Thekeyhighways
inMetsamorRiverbasin includeM1 (YerevanTalinGyumriBavraRA
stateborder)andM5YerevanArmavirBagaran(stateborderbetweentheRAandTurkey).Heretootheroutesarefarfromsurfaceandgroundwaterresources,therefore,theydonothavesignificantpressureonwaterresources.Basedon
theanalysisandevaluationof thehighway trafficdensityand
freightsconductedat
thestageofthebasinanalysis,aswellastakingintoaccountthefactthatroadsmainlypassbylocationsfarfromsurfaceandgroundwaterresources,
itcanbeconcludedthethatvehicletransportdoesnotposeasignificantpressureonwaterresources.
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3.3. Hydromorphological alterations
3.3.1.WaterabstractionCommunal purposes:Water abstraction for
communal purposes in the Akhuryan andMetsamorriver basins,which
comprises 2.3% and 11.7% of the totalwater abstraction in the river
basinsrespectively, is implemented from thegroundwater
resources,and ithas
insignificantpressureonhydromorphologicalconditionsoftheriverbasins.Dischargesofcommunalwastewater,basedon
theexpert judgment,has insignificantpressureonhydromorphological
conditions of the Akhuryan andMetsamor River basins. Due to absence
ofwastewater treatment facilities in the Akhuryan BMA, communal
wastewaters discharged
intosurfacewaterresourceshavespatialdistribution. Irrigation: The
irrigation infrastructure in the Akhuryan River basin consists of
the system
ofreservoirs,pumpingstationsandcanals.Annuallyabout550millionm3ofwaterisstoredinthereservoirsoftheAkhuryanriverbasin,whichisprimarilyusedforirrigationpurposes.Maincharacteristicsofthestoragereservoirsthatarebuiltontheperennialriversarepresentedinthetablebelow.Table28:MaincharacteristicsofreservoirsintheAkhuryanRiverbasin
Nameofthereservoir Sourceoffeeding Surfaceare,km2
Totalvolume,millionm3Usablevolume,
millionm3LakeArpi Dzoraget,Karmrajur,
Yeghnajurriversandsprings
22.1 100.0 5.0
Akhuryan Akhuryanriver 48.39 525.0 510Mantash Mantashriver 0.94
8.20 7.90Kaps Akhuryanriver 0.78 Tavshut Tavshutriver 0.58 6.0
5.75Vardaqar Karkachunriver 0.57 5.0 4.7Sarnaghbyur
MetsDzoriJurriver 0.68 5.0 4.85
Source:StateCommitteeonWaterSystemsoftheMinistryofTerritorialAdministrationoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014.There
are 28 pumping stations in the Akhuryan River basin, including
nonoperational.
Maincharacteristicsofthepumpsatiationsthattakewaterdirectlyfromtheriversarepresentedbelow.Table29:MaincharacteristicsofthepumpingstationsoftheAkhuryanRiverbasin
Nameofthepumpingstation Sourceoffeeding
Capacity,m3/secCommandarea,
haVoskehask Akhuryanriver 0.55 590Akhuryan Akhuryanriver 0.36
67Akhurikfirstandsecondlevels Akhuryanriver 0.66
185Bayandurfirstlevel Akhuryanriver 0.57 91Gharibjanyan
Akhuryanriver 0.64 247Kharkov Akhuryanriver 0.16
Source:StateCommitteeonWaterSystemsoftheMinistryofTerritorialAdministrationoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014.Thereareabout20bigandsmallcanals
in theAkhuryan riverbasin,providing irrigation
toabout28,600hectares.Characteristicsofthecanalsthattakewaterfromtheriversarepresentedbelow.
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Table30:CharacteristicsofthecanalsofAkhuryanRiverbasin
Nameofthecanal Sourceoffeeding Length,kmCapacity,m3/sec
Irrigatedarea,ha
Shirakcanal Akhuryanriver 21.3 6.6 9,817Voskehaskpump,canal
Akhuryanriver 6.1 0.6 590Karangiriverwingcanal Karanguriver 0.8 0.3
123Bayandurpumpingstationcanal Akhuryanriver 2.3 0.2
91Akhuryanrightbankcanal Akhuryanriver 30.18 5
4,230Akhuryanrightbankcanal Akhuryanriver 4.4 0.7
755Khothundzimechanicalirrigation Akhuryanriver 0.8 0.6
1,298LeftbankcanaloftheKaranguRiver Karkachunriver 2.9 1.5
1,144RightbankcanaloftheKaranguRiver Karkachunriver 17.4 2
1,193
Source:StateCommitteeonWaterSystemsoftheMinistryofTerritorialAdministrationoftheRepublicofArmenia,2014Reservoirs
in the Akhuryan River basin disrupt the rivers continuum and alter
their
hydrologicalregime,includingnaturalflow,flowvelocityandlevelregime,decreasesedimenttransportation.AccordingtotheRiverbasinAnalysisreport(January2013),andexpertsobservations,about11kmlong
stretch of the Akhuryan River (from Berdashen community to Pokr
Sepasar community) isdiverted though the earthen canal. This was
done in 1951, after construction of the Lake
Arpireservoirwiththepurposeofregulatingtheriverflowbystraighteningtheriverbed.ThisdiversionalteredthenaturalregimeoftheAkhuryanRiver.
Figure17:StretchoftheAkhuryanRiverwithmodifiedriverbed(Datasources:EPIRBProject,2013;GoogleEarth,2014)
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Headwork/intake structuresof thepumping stationsand the canals
thatdirectly takewater
fromriversalterthemorphologyandhydrologicalregimeoftherivers,includingtheriverbanks,riparianzone,flowregimeandlevel.The
irrigation infrastructure in theMetsamor River basin also consists
of the system of storagereservoirs,pumpingstationsandcanals.There
are about 9 reservoirs in theMetsamor river basin,with total
5.15millionm3 of
usablevolume,whicharebuiltontheephemeralrivers(tributariesofMetsamorRiver).Snowmeltwaterisaccumulatedandstoredinthesereservoirs,whichisusedforirrigationpurposes.There
are 30 pumping stations in the Akhuryan River basin, including
nonoperational.
Maincharacteristicsofthepumpsatiationsthattakewaterdirectlyfromtheriversarepresentedbelow.Table31:MaincharacteristicsofthepumpingstationsoftheMetsamorRiverbasin
Nameofthepumpingstation Sourceoffeeding
Capacity,m3/secCommandarea,
haZartonk Metsamorriver 5.05 2,875Hoktemberian Arasriver 1.