Closure and conservation of the illegal artesian wells in the Ararat Valley will help saving over 360 million cu m of water annually, Deputy Minister of Nature Protection of Armenia Khachik Hakobyan told reporters, Monday.
He said that since 16 July 107 artesian wells with a total discharge rate of 11.3 thousand liters/second have been closed, conserved and imposed valve systems after monitoring and inspections.
The given wells belong to fisheries and "Hayjrmugh" and "Yerevan Jur" Companies.
Earlier, the Government of Armenia recognized a number of areas in the basins of the rivers of Akhuryan, Hrazdan, Sevjur and Qasakh as low-water. The deputy minister said this will allow limiting water use by economic entities by 2/3, which will positively affect the process of self-restoration of the water basin. Hakobyan said a plan for management of the Ararat Valley will be developed by September 2015.
To recall, subsurface horizons in the Ararat Valley went down by several meters after fisheries were licensed to discharge water. To stabilize the situation, illegal artesian wells have been closed. In addition, the Government adopted a decision to increase the ceiling for water release from Lake Sevan for irrigation purposes.