BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28. The majority of water flowing into Azerbaijan through the Kura river is polluted by neighboring countries, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament Committee on Natural Resources, Energy, and Ecology Sadig Gurbanov said during the public hearings on the topic Water management in the country: problems and new challenges, Trend reports.
"Georgia accounts for 62 percent of the South Caucasus' total water resources, Armenia for 28 percent, and Azerbaijan for 10 percent. The average annual surface water reserves are 32.3 billion cubic meters. The Kura river is the primary source of drinking water for the people of Azerbaijan," the Committee Chairman noted.
He also said that most of the water flowing to Azerbaijan through the Kura river is formed on the territory of Georgia and Armenia.
"Unfortunately, neighboring countries continue to pollute these seas. Armenia and Georgia have yet to join the International Convention on Environmental Protection. Azerbaijan is a signatory to 17 international conventions on this subject, including the Convention on the Protection of Transboundary Waters. The Araz river contributes a small portion of our freshwater supplies, but it is also contaminated by Iran and Armenia. The Samur river, which flows from the north from the territory of Dagestan to Russia, does not fulfill the requirements," Gurbanov emphasized.
The Committee Chairman noted that according to forecasts, by 2040, river water availability is likely to decrease by 15–25 percent on average in the territory of Azerbaijan.
"By 2070, this figure is expected to be 20–25 percent. Another factor causing water scarcity in our country is the growing water demand. Thus, while in agriculture, one million ha of land area was planted in 2010, in 2020, this figure will reach 1.7 million ha. In other words, the area of land sown for irrigation has generally increased by more than 70 percent. One more factor is associated with water loss," he added.
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