Water Dispute: Environmentalists/Ombudsman concerned over law on Lake Sevan

Amendments to legislation that allow additional drainage from Lake Sevan are in the focus of environmentalists and Armenia's ombudsman.

This summer amendments to RA Law "On Establishing Annual and Complex Program for Restoration, Protection, Reproduction and Use of Lake Sevan Ecosystems" were adopted, under which in 2012, annual water outlets from Lake Sevan will be increased from 170 million cubic meters to 320 million cubic meters.

State officials consider the new bill to be necessary and nonhazardous, and the Ministry of Nature Protection claims that the additional water outlet from Lake Sevan will not result in the decrease of the lake level. But environmentalists consider taking even one cubic meter of water from the lake to be unacceptable and believe that additional water outlets from Lake Sevan are not connected with lack of water. The bill's critics say it is done because the rise in Lake Sevan's level will cause damage to hotels and restaurants, which belong to a number of officials.  Read more... (348 words)

Armenian News