Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Water Committee of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure to participate in the discussion of the performance report 2022 of the department.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, Advisor to the Prime Minister Artashes Tumanyan, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Bagrat Badalyan, Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Vache Terteryan, Deputy Minister of Finance Vahan Sirunyan, Deputy Minister of Economy Arman Khojoyan, Chairman of the Water Committee Vahagn Gevorgyan, Deputy Head of the State Supervision Service Robert Bazikyan, the management staff of the Water Committee, other officials.

Water system management measures carried out in 2022 were reported to the Prime Minister. It was noted that in the reporting year, the Water Committee implemented 5 projects with 50 measures, which were aimed at the rehabilitation of the irrigation system, the management of the water system of the Vorotan-Arpa-Sevan tunnel, the provision of drainage collector services, the improvement of the water supply and drainage network. Budget execution was 99 percent. Among the most important indicators, the following works were noted: during the entire irrigation period, it was possible to ensure a stable water supply for irrigation in weather conditions drier and hotter than normal, instead of 170 million cubic meters of water taken from Lake Sevan as stipulated by the law, 165 million cubic meters of water was taken, the largest collection of charges for irrigation water from Water Users Associations since 2003 was recorded- about 4.7 billion AMD. The construction of the irrigation system of the "Park of Life" project has entered the construction stage, the program for the construction of solar plants and small hydropower plants has started.

It was noted that in the last 5 years in the field of irrigation, an increase in contract irrigated land was recorded. Within the framework of the Scada systems program aimed at water accounting, 1,500 water measuring devices were installed in 2021-2022, by the end of 2023 it is expected to increase that number to 2250. The capital projects for the rehabilitation of the left branch of Talin, the construction of pumping pipeline of the Kaghtsrashen pumping station, the gravity-flow system from the Geghardalchi reservoir were implemented. The program of reconstruction/improvement of inter-farm and intra-farm irrigation networks is in progress in the whole country, which has 170,000 beneficiaries, the cost of the project is 50 million USD. Priority flood prevention measures were implemented, groundwater monitoring was carried out in 455 observation wells installed in the Ararat Valley. The measures implemented within the framework of improving and technically re-equipping the Arpa-Sevan water system were presented.

It was reported that the number of communities served in the field of drinking water supply and drainage has increased, which is due to the implementation of state-community cooperation programs. Within the framework of the water supply and drainage system overhaul project, construction works have started in 27 settlements of 3 provinces, the project is ongoing, the total cost is AMD 6.2 billion. The water supply and drainage infrastructures of 11 urban and 45 rural settlements in 6 provinces are being repaired, the number of beneficiaries is 75,000, by the end of the project, it is expected to have 24-hour water supply and water leakage reduction, the total cost is 71 million euros. A part of Yerevan's water supply system improvement project (15.1 million USD) has already been implemented, 80.5 km of distribution network, 30-yard pumping station have been put into operation, in the next phase it is planned to start the repair works of Silikyan, Haghtanak, Nor Kharberd water supply networks, as well as the Ararat pumping station.

The measures implemented in the direction of small and medium reservoir construction were presented. It was noted that the interdepartmental working group set up by the decision of the Prime Minister is actively working, within the framework of the project of the construction of 15 reservoirs in 2022, the design works of 4 have started, the design of 2 will start in the next month, the preparatory works of technical and economic feasibility study for 5 have started, the feasibility assessment is being done for 4. It was also reported about the progress of the construction projects of Kapsi, Vedi reservoirs and irrigation system, the projects implemented with international cooperation were presented. According to those in-charge, the construction of new reservoirs will allow to accumulate additional water resources, increase management efficiency, improve water supply to irrigated lands, achieve energy savings by replacing mechanical irrigation with gravity-flow irrigation.

The presentation of the report was followed by the exchange of ideas on the improvement of water management systems, clarification of strategic approaches, programs implemented according to the above directions, current and future works.

The Prime Minister drew the attention of the officials to the issues of increasing the volume of irrigated land and reducing water losses in the system in general, emphasizing the interdepartmental coordinated work in that direction (including through the national geoportal). Nikol Pashinyan emphasized the reforms the water sector and instructed to develop a comprehensive strategy. "This is where the disruption of economic efficiency begins. The reform should start with the introduction of an effective mechanism of water accounting, which will allow to increase the cost efficiency, improve the management system and record a measurable result", the Head of the Government said

The Prime Minister was also briefed on the preparations for the spring irrigation season.