BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. The total volume of Azerbaijan's water resources amounted to 24 billion cubic meters according to the water balance of 2021, head of the department of water resources management at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Mutallim Abdulgasanov told Trend.
According to Abdulgasanov, the country's total volume of surface water resources is 15 billion cubic meters, and underground - nearly nine billion cubic meters.
The head of the department also said that 11 billion cubic meters of water enter Azerbaijan from outside, and four billion cubic meters are formed on the country's territory.
"These figures indicate a gradual reduction in our water resources. Over the past 20 years, their volume has decreased by 15 percent mainly due to the increase in air temperature in recent years," he noted. "The state protects all water resources in Azerbaijan. Although we have enough water reserves, their volume reduces. Of the total water resources of Azerbaijan, five billion cubic meters account for the territories liberated from Armenian occupation [in the 2020 Second Karabakh War]."
Abdulgasanov also noted that the Kur and Araz rivers play a special role in the formation of Azerbaijan's water resources.
"These rivers have reservoirs. Since the beginning of 2022, we have collected significantly more water in them than last year," he added.