Expert: Lake Sevan annually provides Armenia with economic benefits of $400 million through a range of ecosystem services

ArmInfo. By the end of the year, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will present a technical assistance package to the Armenian government for implementing a wastewater drainage and treatment system across the entirety of Lake Sevan's territory, as stated by the Bank's Senior Climate Change Expert, Vardan Karapetyan, speaking on the sidelines of the ADB seminar titled "Protecting Lake Sevan: Sustainable Solutions and Investment Strategies" on March 21.

He noted that the package will initially be submitted to the Investment Committee for consideration, and then to the government. If approved by the authorities, the expert added that the Asian Development Bank will allocate $800,000 for technical and advisory assistance in implementing this program and conducting the study. At this stage, the Bank's specialists are designing a wastewater drainage and treatment system for the entire area of Lake Sevan.

In an interview with an ArmInfo correspondent, he emphasized that each investment decision consists of 2 components: the amount of money needed for the changes and the economic benefits it will bring. In this regard, Karapetyan noted that the Bank has conducted a study on these two components,  revealing that Sevan provides numerous ecosystem services to Armenia and the public.  The expert pointed out that the ADB had  considered several scenarios regarding  investment value. "We will present an investment package to the Committee, and if approved by the government, we are ready to implement all of this. Given the environmental nature of the investments and their impact on climate change, I am confident that the Bank will offer the government favorable terms," he clarified.

It should be noted that during the seminar, water resources management and climate change expert Alexander Arakelyan presented a report titled "Lake Sevan: environmental situation, climate change, anthropogenic impact, adaptation needs." Speaking at the event, he said that untreated domestic wastewater causes the greatest harm to the ecosystem of Sevan. Arakelyan noted that about 73% of wastewater is not collected or treated. Among the "pests" of Sevan, the expert also named unsustainable land use and agricultural practices, in particular the uncontrolled use of pesticides, fertilizers, and lack of control over manure management. Ineffective solid waste management, illegal fishing; small hydroelectric power plants that disrupt river flows, discharge of wastewater from industrial enterprises from other types of economic activity, etc., also, according to him, cause damage to the lake.

In addition to all these factors, the expert called  attention to the fact that from 1961 to 2024, there was a recorded increase in air temperature by 1.5 degrees  throughout the Lake Sevan basin.. This has resulted in crop yields and an increased need for irrigation,  leading to additional demand for water resources.  Arakelyan emphasized the necessity of modernizing the technical infrastructure for climate modeling, which includes improving monitoring networks and computing resources, enhancing models for predicting water balance, and preparing for hazardous hydrometeorological phenomena. Additionally, he pointed out the importance of developing a methodology for assessing the impact of climate change on water quality indicators and improving data management systems for their exchange between specialized institutions.