ArmInfo.During the first half of 2019, the irrigated lands increased by 7,100 hectares in Armenia. On July 2, at a press conference, Chairman of the RA Water Committee Vardan Melkonyan said this.
The registered results of the head of Vodkoma caused an increase in the number of new landowners, with whom 920 contracts were signed and the withdrawal of certain land plots from the shadow into the legal field.
At the same time, according to Melkonyan, in 2018 during the reporting period, 218 million cubic meters of water were provided to water users. water, while this year the figure has decreased by 30 million cubic meters. m. <In this regard, I can only state that by reducing the volumes of irrigated water, we do not faced with a large number of complaints, which indicates that the figure presented in the past year was not true>, he said.
At the same time, he noted that during the reporting period the collection of funds for water consumption increased by 24 million drams, making a total of 846 million drams. Speaking about the situation around Lake Sevan, Melkonyan noted that in the first 6 months of 2018 water outflows from Sevan amounted to 43.5 million cubic meters, whereas in the reporting year this figure was only 29 million. m3
In the reservoirs, the head of the department noted, as of today, 41 million cubic meters of water has been accumulated more than last year. "But this figure fluctuates, because there are still reservoirs where replenishment is expected," he noted.
In continuation of the above, Melkonyan noted that the construction work on the Vedi reservoir should be completed in August 2021. <We will do everything so that the construction work is completed in a timely manner. This will be quite a significant volume of reservoir - 29 million cubic meters. that will provide irrigation of 4 thousand hectares of land, "he said.
At the same time, the head of Vodkom noted that construction work on the Kapskoye reservoir will begin in the near future, as well as negotiations are underway with donor organizations and individuals for the start of construction work at the Ekhvard reservoir.
It should be noted that in January 2016, a loan agreement was signed between Armenia and the French Development Agency in the amount of 75 million euros for the construction of the Vedinsky reservoir. The document was signed on the basis of the strategic program of the perspective development of Armenia for 2014-2025. The loan is granted for a period of 20 years with a six-year grace period. The construction of the dam and auxiliary infrastructures is scheduled for completion in March 2021.
Earlier, German Development Bank KfW provided Armenia with a loan of 50 million euros and a grant of 2 million euros for the implementation of the Kaps reservoir construction program. Funds are provided for a period of 15 years with a 5-year grace period at a fixed credit rate. Financial resources will be spent on restoring the Kaps reservoir and re-equipping its infrastructure. In particular, to complete the reconstruction of the reservoir in the amount of 25 million cubic meters on the Akhuryan River, which will allow using this resource exclusively for irrigation purposes.
On December 8, 2015, the EFSD Council (EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund) approved the preliminary application of Armenia for providing $ 25.2 million for the implementation of the program "Construction of the Mastara Reservoir", which is planned to be built on the Mastara River. It will collect free flow from the Akhuryan reservoir to the Talinsky irrigation system.
It should be noted that initially it was planned to implement a large-scale program for the construction of four reservoirs in Armenia - Yeghvard, Vedinsky, Kapsky and Mastarinsky. The total cost of the program was estimated at about $ 350-400 million. Funding was mainly provided by the credit resources of international donors - the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Eurasian Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the German KFW bank, etc. However, now some programs have been reduced in to improve the effectiveness of control over public debt.