The level of Lake Sevan, Armenia’s largest freshwater reservoir, was 4 centimeters higher on Friday, 26 July this year than on the same day last year, Environment Minister Erik Grigoryan told a discussion on Saturday.

“This comes despite the fact that we saw a 100 million cubic meters more evaporation and 40 million cubic meters less precipitation,” the minister stressed.

Grigoryan said he attaches great importance to the quantitative data, since in the lake’s case the quantity is inversely proportional to the quality.

“The issue of Sevan emerged at the time when various actions related to the lake’s level and volume started to be taken. It’s well known that the water level of Lake Sevan was dropped by more than 18 meters during the Soviet period to be increased again. Later, it was lowered again. Since the 2000s, the level has been raised by around 3 meters, while in 2011-2012 the water level saw little increase. The construction of the Arpa-Sevan Tunnel was being delayed, so a large amount of water was taken out of the lake due to the high demand for water,” the minister said.

Grigoryan explained the cold layer of the water prevents algae and organic matter from growing and spreading in the lake. However, starting from 2017, the amount of some organic substances, in particular phosphorus, has been steadily increasing in the lake. The minister says the rise is mainly prompted by the mass discharge of wastewater and sewage from over 90 nearby villages into Lake Sevan.

“The recent discussions showed most of the citizens are not aware that Sevan is being subjected to such pressure. But if we consider it in a wider context, all sewage water in Armenia flow into all rivers and water basins not only in Gegharkunik, but also in Syunik, Vayots Dzor and Shirak Provinces,” the minister said, vowing to take preventive measures in the sphere.