ArmInfo. Fifteen small reservoirs are planned to be constructed in Armenia by 2026, Armenia's Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan stated in Parliament on Thursday.
Tenders for six reservoir construction projects had been announced, with five of them won. Feasibility reports for the five projects are under preparation. By the end of the year, design documents will be ready for 2 or 3 projects, with the work on other projects to be continued next year.
The minister highlighted the importance of construction of reservoirs designed for further water distribution. Thirty such construction projects are available, and 22 of them are in progress - a company pledged to develop construction projects by the end of this year, with tenders to be invited.
Mr Sanonyan reported progressing construction of large reservoirs. Specifically, 70 of the 85 meters of the dam of the Vedi reservoir have been constructed, and the project will be completed this year. "As regards the reconstruction of the Kaps reservoir, a contract will be signed with the tender winner tomorrow for the project to be launched," Mr Sanonyan said.
On January 26, 2016, the French Development Agency issued a EUR 75mln loan to Armenia for the Vedi reservoir construction project, with the Armenian government's share being EUR 15mln. The designed capacity of the reservoir is 29.4mln cubic meters. The rivers of Vedi and Khosrov will be the water sources for the reservoir. The programme will defuse the water deficit problem in the Ararat valley and enable gravity-flow irrigation, which will save energy. The programme was to have been completed within four years, but only 77% of the programme had been completed by last May.
The KfW bank agreed to fund the Kaps reservoir reconstruction project. The Kaps reservoir project has remained incomplete since 1988. The reservoir is located 22km of north-west of Gyumri and has a designed capacity of 100mln cubic meters. The German RfW bank is funding the EUR 70mln project. The loan agreement took effect on June 29, 2019, with the initial deadline being December 30, 2019 and later prolonged to June 30, 2024. The first stage is completing a reservoir with a capacity of 25mln cubic meters. The second stage provides for bringing its capacity up to 60mln cubic meters. The projects also provides for the construction of auxiliary facilities, hydrological observation points and SCADA system.
