European Union to provide Armenia with funds to solve problems of  Lake Sevan 

ArmInfo.The European Union will provide Armenia with funds to solve the problems of Lake Sevan. At the February 20 meeting, the RA government approved an agreement  with the EU for signing.

As Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan noted in his speech, it is  envisaged to send 5 million euros in the form of a grant to solve the  task. The project will reduce water releases from the lake and  improve water quality. The program provides for other activities  related to Sevan.

In turn, the Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Armenia  Eric Grigoryan informed that within the framework of the program it  is planned to build three treatment plants in Martuni, Gavar and  Vardenis.  For this purpose, a "road map" has been developed, within  the framework of which there is a group of international engineers in  Armenia, which is working on the issue of treatment plants.  Earlier,  the chairman of the Lake Sevan commission at the NAS of Armenia, Yuri  Javadyan, reported that one of the main causes of pollution of Sevan  is a drain into the lake of sewage from almost all settlements of  Gegharkunik. The expert stated that in Martuni only 45% of the houses  are equipped with sewage, in Vardenis 20%, the largest percentage of  such houses in Gavar (47%). He noted that the three water treatment  plants operating on the lake pollute more than clean the Sevan  ecosystem. Waste arising after mechanical treatment of water should  be sent to a landfill, but there is none in the area. "Thus, about  340 tons of garbage that comes from Sevan are dumped somewhere, and  then, in the spring, waste flows back into the lake. But this is not  the only reason for the pollution of water in the lake. Another  reason is that Within the framework of the program, trees were cut  down on the coastal area of 700 hectares, however, stumps of these  trees remained, which led to decay and, as a result, pollution of the  lake. water level rise is not made it possible to carry out the  necessary measures and solve all these issues, "said Javadyan.

He also presented options that, according to the expert, can solve  this problem. In particular, he noted the need to install special  treatment facilities at all facilities located on the shore, the  creation of a garbage dump near the town of Hrazdan, as well as  special pools for water treatment.

It should be noted that Lake Sevan is the main source of drinking  water in the region, one of the largest alpine lakes in Europe and  Asia, located in the heart of the Armenian Highlands, at an altitude  of 1914 meters. Last year, blue-green algae bloomed in the lake in  large numbers, after which the Ministry of Health of Armenia called  on the inhabitants of the country not to swim in these parts of the  lake, since these algae are toxic. In turn, the "flowering" of Sevan  caused serious concern for environmentalists, who sounded the alarm.  Moreover, experts said that it was necessary to take appropriate  measures and save Sevan. Two versions are put forward as the reasons  for Sevan blooming, according to the first, the reason is the spread  of blue-green algae, as another reason for the "bloom" of the lake,  experts call the decrease in the lake water level.