WATER - FROM DESTRUCTIVE FORCE TO LIFE-GIVER

The worst flooding in decades, which affected large parts of the lowland Aran region in April-June this year, brought to the fore once again the need for a comprehensive plan to manage the country's water resources. This pertains not only to the regulation of drainage from the country's largest water arteries - the Kura and Araz, but to massive measures to contain debris in rivers on the southern spurs of the Greater Caucasus, as well as to ensure the safety of large dams and other water facilities.

This spring's heavy rains made the Kura and Araz to burst their banks and also caused landslides from mountain rivers, affecting 40 districts in one way or another. As a result of this large-scale disaster, nearly 20,000 houses were flooded, more than 300 being completely destroyed, and about 50,000 hectares of cultivated land were left under water. Azerbaijan's complex landscape and climatic particularities have always been accompanied by seasonal floods. Villagers in the troubled regions have somehow become accustomed to the raging elements and have even learned to carry out agro-economic work to fit in with the local climate. However, the extent of damage and the duration of flooding this year suggest the need to take preventive measures and create a comprehensive system to manage water flows in the country.

Water management - an issue of national security

"Effective measures must be taken to prevent a repeat of the disasters that affected the residents of the Kura-Araz lowlands this spring. It is necessary to develop and implement a comprehensive plan to prevent massive flooding in Azerbaijan. Today we have sufficient investment, technical capability and experience to do this," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a recent meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on the results of socioeconomic development in the first half of 2010. The head of state outlined a number of specific areas that need to be included in the comprehensive plan. Among them is the resolution of all technical issues to strengthen dykes and dams and to ensure that all hydraulic structures regulating river flows are in serviceable condition. He also noted that it is planned to build the Tovuzcay reservoir this year - a gigantic project to boost electricity generation, which will also regulate water. "If the Tovuzcay reservoir had been built in time, it would have been possible to regulate the drainage of large amounts of water, and the current floods and mudflows would not have caused so much trouble in our country. The project may take several years, but we must begin it in the current year," President Ilham Aliyev said.

Thus, a political decision has already been made to draft a comprehensive plan for water resource management, and it only remains to formulate guidelines and commence implementation. By the way, specialist scientific research institutions had already made some suggestions in this field, but last year, experts of the Emergencies Ministry began to devise such a plan. Private and non-governmental organizations are ready to make their contribution to the resolution of the issue: the ASPI company recently published a draft "strategy for water management in Azerbaijan until 2030". Its basic idea is to restructure the water management industry, based on a balance of investment in the modernization of infrastructure and in the optimization of the management system. Just over a year ago, experts from the International Organization for Dam Safety presented the government with a proposal to monitor the technical condition of dams. This international body is ready to carry out detailed monitoring of the dams in the country, providing special equipment and expertise. These proposals are currently under consideration by the government, which is also working on measures to enhance the efficiency of state control over the country's hydraulic structures. Among the options under consideration, the government is considering the feasibility of handing over the management of all dams to one structure - most probably the Emergencies Ministry, one of whose main functions is to ensure the country's water security.

Kura cascade dams in need of repair

The Kura-Araz lowland seems to be most vulnerable to flooding. The districts located here are generally 28 metres below sea level. According to some hydro-geologists and specialists in agencies that operate dams and hydropower, waste management in the Kura delta should be considered in conjunction with the management of flow control in Kura cascade reservoirs. Problems with flow control in the region's main river emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Previously, it was regulated from Georgia, which was then responsible for the functioning of the integrated power system of the three South Caucasus states. In turn, the flow of the Araz was regulated by reservoirs constructed in conjunction with Iran. Alas, there is no clear coordination today. Moreover, in case of a threat of flooding, states located upstream on the Kura and Araz operate emergency releases of water from their water facilities, often endangering low-lying areas of the country.

Over the past two decades, several state agencies have been involved in constructing and operating reservoirs in the country and their waterworks. Thus, responsibility for reservoirs with a total capacity of 18.5 billion cubic metres lies with the Reclamation and Water Management joint-stock company, while the country's main energy operator Azarenerji is responsible for most of the 42 large and small dams. However, in recent years, these organizations have lacked the technical and material resources required for sewage treatment and for the repair of facilities. According to a survey by the International Organisation for Dam Safety, published a year ago, 15 of the country's 42 dams are in urgent need of reconstruction, as they have deteriorated to some extent. The four largest dams in the Kura-Araz cascade of reservoirs should be treated as a matter of priority, as each of them is designed to hold several billion cubic metres of water.

As an example, we can cite the Mingacevir reservoir and the dam of the Mingacevir hydroelectric power station. Fifty-five years have passed since the construction of the Mingacevir waterworks: at one time, the dam built here was Europe's highest. 12 million cubic metres of soil and 900,000 cubic metres of concrete were used in its construction, and metal structures totalling 24,000 tonnes in weight were installed. In May this year, Azarenerji monitored the condition of the dam at the Mingacevir reservoir and, luckily, no cracks or leaks were found. However, time takes its toll, and it is probably sensible to carry out broader geological studies of the vicinity. This is extremely important, especially as a major landslide occurred a few years ago in the area located at the foot of Mount Bozdag, near the reservoir.

In any case, clearance and repair work is required at all facilities at the Samxor, Mingacevir and Yenikand reservoirs located on the Kura cascade. Today, the reservoirs in the Kura cascade do not provide an adequate flow of water, which causes several problems, including the shallowing of the lower reaches and mouth of the Kura River, where dredging is not yielding the expected results. Two canals originate from the Mingacevir reservoir - the Upper Karabakh and Sirvan canals, which also require some reconstruction work. At a critical moment (the overflow of rivers and reservoirs during torrential rains), these canals should release at least 200 cubic metres of water per second, and the clogging of drainage canals may lead to serious accidents. The implementation of the new management plan for waste water at the Kura cascade, apart from solving the problem of flooding, will double the productivity of the hydroelectric plants located here, raising total electricity generation at the hydroelectric power plants from approximately 3 billion to at least 5 billion kilowatt hours per year.

The Sarsang reservoir, which is located on Armenian-occupied territories, is in the worst condition. During the drought in the lowland areas in spring and summer, the Armenians stop water from flowing out of the reservoir, raising the threat of an accident at the dam, which has not been repaired for decades. Unfortunately, the international organizations to which the government of Azerbaijan has appealed have yet to respond.

Canals for the Aran lowlands

Another problem is that the mouth of the Kura River is under pressure due to the rising level of the Caspian Sea, which reduces the volume of river discharge into the sea and leads to silting of the delta. No large-scale dredging of the Kura River delta has been carried out for a long time. In addition to clearance and dredging work on the Kura, the comprehensive water management plan involves the construction of drainage canals and alterations to the flow of the river in some regions. Thus a new branch of the Araz River was opened near the Bahramtapa water junction a month ago, which redirects excess water towards the Caspian Sea bypassing the Kura. The possibility of changing the Kura's course near the town of Salyan is also being studied: the bend located here may be "straightened" and then the Kura will not pass through this administrative centre, threatening it with floods every spring.

However, attempts to make any serious changes to the natural course of the Kura require serious hydro-geological and environmental studies. The silting of the Kura delta is not the only cause of flooding and its clearance will not solve the basic problem. "Once in a century, the Kura is affected by major floods, which open new channels of the river; this is why we should not build a dyke along the full length of the Kura, to contain it. This should be done only in strategically important areas - in densely-populated places. In other sections, it is necessary to leave some space for the river to burst its banks," says Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Huseyn Bagirov.

Another part of the comprehensive water management plan concerns control of the courses of mountain rivers, especially the Greater Caucasus rivers flowing through Goycay, Saki, Zaqatala, Qax, Qabala, Qusar and several other districts where mudflows are quite common. Azerbaijan has been working on a protective anti-torrent system for several years; today these activities are coordinated by the Emergencies Ministry. The areas at risk of flooding and mudflows cover about 1.2 million hectares. And this, in turn, endangers the local population and their property, worth $4 billion.

To prevent possible disasters, 28 km of concrete dykes have been built in several torrent-threatened areas in the past few years to protect settlements and agricultural land from being flooded by 27 mountain rivers. According to experts, alongside a network of dykes, a system of canals should be created in the upper parts of areas affected by mudflows, so that they contain and accumulate mud.

We can only hope that the water management concept will make it possible to distribute the country's 24 billion cubic metres of water resources rationally and contain the raging elements.