Armenia

2020 Voluntary National Review

Armenia reported that 71 wells were conserved, and that valve systems were installed in 20 wells, which resulted in a water flow savings of 3017.8 L/sec in the Ararat and Armavir regions. The country has also reported making significant progress in developing a list of rivers where construction of hydroelectric power plants is banned. This list will be published by the end of 2020. Additionally, the amount of water withdrawn from Lake Sevan in 2019 reached its lowest over the past 5 years. Water withdrawal was 26,140 million m³ less than the limit set by legislation (170 million m³). As of late 2019, 143,857 million m³ of water was withdrawn from the lake for irrigation purposes, which is 56,076 million m³ less than the previous year’s amount for the same period. The country has also reported having drastically improved its capacity for water measurement, with 890,884 water measurement devices installed at the end users (which is an increase of 7,752 from 2018), and the water measurement rate sitting at 99.5%.

Armenia highlighted an algal bloom in Lake Sevan as a major challenge in 2019. The algal bloom, which was the result of lake swamping, turned the typically blue lake green.  The country has acknowledged that active steps need to be taken to prevent the bloom from worsening.

Armenia has further outlined multiple plans for progress, including the introduction of water-saving technologies that minimize volumes of used water, reduce water losses, help preserve water resources, restore degraded ecosystems, promote continuous and efficient use of water resources, and enable sustainable management. Likewise, the development of Hrazdan and Sevan water basin management plans is currently underway, along with a package of amendments for the Akhuryan water basin management plan. They noted defining the criteria for preservation of river and lake ecosystems located within these water basin management areas, and the development of the management plans is set to be finalized in 2020.

In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and ensure a high quality of life and a sustainable environment, the Government initiated the development of over 30 sectoral strategies, as well as the comprehensive Armenia Transformation Strategy 2020-2050. The Transformation Strategy considers the approaches and actions of the Government and involves all stakeholders including the private sector and civil society. Similarly, Armenia’s commitment to the SDG 2030 Agenda, including a partnership with the EU (The Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, signed in 2017), also states working towards the goal of a cleaner environment via SDGs 6, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

Read the full report here: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26318Armenia_VNRFINAL.pdf 

*The information reflected on this page has been taken directly from the official VNR received from this Member State. The information does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations.