By Vestnik Kavkaza
When oceans dry up,
And glaciers fade away,
Oh Lord, the waters of Sevan
Will give the whole world to drink.
This prediction by a poet about the Caucasus pearl, its high-mountain and deepest lake, won’t come true. Year by year the threat that Lake Sevan will suffer the fate of Lake Aral becomes ever more real.
The lake covers one fifth of Armenia's territory and is rapidly shoaling. It should be noted that Lake Sevan’s life was spoiled under the Soviet authorities, when they decided to use the lake for implementation of the modernizing breakthrough GOELRO plan. Innovators hastened their work. They built a cascade of hydroelectric plants and start the water running from Lake Sevan to the arid lands of the Ararat Valley. As a result of this, under the Soviet regime the water level of Lake Sevan decreased 16 meters, even though 28 rivers flow into Sevan and only 1 river flows out of it.
The authorities tried to save the lake and built a 48-km tunnel under the mountains, and some of the waters from the River Arpa were redistributed into the lake. But it turned out that to return to the previous water level, more water was needed. It was decided that another tunnel should be built – from another mountain river, the Vorotan. Construction took a lot of time, as the new authorities of independent Armenia didn’t pay significant strategic attention to the project and allocated scarce resources for its implementation. Once workers who were not paid took a radical step – they shut themselves in the tunnel and blocked the flood-gates through which water should have gone to Lake Sevan.
In the early 1990s Lake Sevan saved Armenia from the energy crisis which was caused by shutting down the nuclear power station, but the lake lost 3 meters of its water level. At the same time, a new problem of Lake Sevan appeared – year by year its water becomes dirtier. Environmentalists blame the authorities for the pollution, stating that Sevan will remain “half-alive”, there will be no clear rivers, and soon all the lands will be polluted by heavy metals, if they don’t start working well. Heavy metals and organic substances which negatively influence the fauna of the lake have been found there. According to the Environmental Monitoring Center, at the moment the rivers which flow into Lake Sevan bring dirty water, and in 5-10 years the lake could turn into a swamp. It has been stated many times, but the ore-production industry continues to work.
Silva Adamyan, an ecologist, thinks that the lake is polluted not only by the rivers. First of all, the bottom should be cleaned, water should constantly run up; secondly, fish are highly necessary for Lake Sevan, but the way suggested by the government is not appropriate. Fish should reproduce naturally in the lake to establish a favorable environmental situation. “I don’t see a settlement of the problem,” she said. The “health” of Sevan depends on its inhabitants. For example, Sevan cankers clear the lake of organic substances, but they are fished out. Another favorite target of poachers are Sevan whitefish. The amount of fish caught is 10 times greater than permitted by licences. In 2001 the Council of Justice of Armenia intended to address their French colleagues to recognize the fact of “fish genocide” in the country, if the Armenian authorities don’t take preventive measures against illegal fishing. However, it is so widespread that it is almost impossible to control the process. Lake Sevan is full of fishing nets, nobody restricts fishing. Fish is destroyed massively.
Moreover, environmentalists state that another problem is the disappearance of forests near the lake. The landscape has changed dramatically in the last 30 years. Not only many kinds of plants, but more than 60 kinds of birds which are listed in the Red Book are extinct. Forests are cut down massively. They say that people who live in a difficult social situation cut trees at night. Guards don’t try to stop them, as don’t get their salaries regularly.
Thus, a resort zone, irrigation, fishing, energy power and drinking water source could turn into a swamp. If the authorities continue to close their eyes to Sevan’s problems, an environmental disaster is inevitable. The disappearance of the lake, which plays the leading role in the creation of a mild climate in the region, and the ensuing natural imbalance will lead to desertification or swampification of the territory.
