LIQUID DEFICIT

Problems in Azerbaijan's water supply are still on the agenda, and with March 22 - World Water Day - approaching, there is good cause to mention them again. Very recently, at an international scientific-practical conference dedicated to the quality of drinking water in Azerbaijan, experts from the UN Development Programme stressed that the situation regarding water supply in Azerbaijan poses a threat to the country's national security. Experts from the Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry confirmed this opinion. 

External threat

Of the nearly 1,000 rivers that run across the territory of Azerbaijan, only 21 are longer than 100 km. The largest river in the Trans-Caucasus is the Kur. It crosses Azerbaijan from north-west to south-east and falls into the Caspian Sea. The Kur's main tributary is the Araz, and most rivers in Azerbaijan are in the Kur basin. As everywhere, these rivers are used for irrigation and water supply. The Mingacevir state hydroelectric power station and the Mingacevir reservoir (605 sq. km.) were built on the Kur.

Under current regulations, large cities should have several independent sources of water supply. To this end Baku uses both surface water (the rivers Samur and Kur) and underground water (Sollar). But still, overall, Azerbaijan experiences a shortage of drinking water and there are many reasons for concern. In particular, Azerbaijan is among those European countries which receive 50 to 80 per cent of their water resources from external sources. Domestic experts are "sounding the alarm", while deputies to the Milli Maclis believe that as many legal acts as necessary should be passed regarding the country's water supply. As most of this supply - 70 per cent - depends on the River Kur, which is currently in a critical ecological condition, it is not difficult to imagine the kind of threat there could be to our country's national security in the near future. 

Thus, during monitoring of the rivers Kur and Araz, which cross the borders of Georgia and Armenia, specialists from Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources discovered major contamination of the water by phenols and copper compounds. In the opinion of the specialists who conducted the study, the reason for the contamination of the trans-border water within the territory of Georgia and Armenia was the discharge of industrial and household water without purification. Although the level of oxygen in the water in these rivers is still within sanitary limits, the daily discharge of compounds of nitrogen into the Kur in the Gardabani section impacts not only upon the flora and fauna but also upon people's health. At the border with Armenia the levels of phenol and copper compounds exceed the norm many times. In the districts of Horadiz and Sah-Seven I, the levels of the main contaminators in the River Araz - phenols and copper compounds - are three times higher than statutory levels, and in Bahramtapa -they are double statutory levels.

It is for this reason that, in November 2008, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order "On additional measures to improve the supply of ecologically clean water to the population". In particular, the order said that, as a result of measures taken by the state to improve the provision of good quality drinking water, meeting ecological requirements, to the population of Azerbaijan, the installation of module-type water purification facilities had been initiated in 2007-08 in some districts of Naxcivan and in 100 population centres in the districts of Yevlax, Zardab, Agcabadi, Kurdamir, Imisli, Sabirabad, Saatli, Salyan, Neftcala and Bilasuvar; in many places they were already operational. In view of the positive results, the President prescribed the installation of similar equipment in an additional 200 population centres in districts located along the rivers Kur and Araz. The construction of purification facilities is also envisaged in Azerbaijan's national security blueprint, endorsed on 23 May 2007. 

In particular, according to this document, the challenges to national security include ecological problems and problems of environmental protection, and also threats to the health of the population of Azerbaijan. The water supply problem is one of those challenges.

Monitoring the Kur and the Araz

Azerbaijan is currently a signatory to 17 international conventions on environmental protection, including the convention "On the protection and use of trans-border watercourses and international lakes". We call upon neighbouring countries to join these conventions, but Georgia and Armenia have not signed up and so it is commonly believed that it is our neighbours who contaminate Azerbaijan's sources of drinking water - the rivers Kur and Araz, which make up most of the country's drinking water reserves, estimated at 34-35 cu. km.

As for international projects, the EU has provided great assistance to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia within the framework of a project to manage trans-border water resources in the basin of the River Kur. A contract has been signed between the South Caucasus countries and the EU under which the relevant ministries of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been provided with 1.5m euros each to purchase equipment to monitor the quality of the water. The aim of the project is to provide assistance in improving regional cooperation in the management of common water resources in the basin of the River Kur and also to help Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia to manage integrated water resources, to identify through joint efforts the most contaminated locations, to draw up a common programme of necessary action and also to help establish a trans-border monitoring system to support decision-making in the management of integrated water resources.

The European Commission concluded an agreement on the rendering of services within the project by the "EPTISA & Grontmij - CarlBro Сonsortium". The consortium coordinates environmental projects run by USAID, UNDP, OSCE, NATO, EBRD and WB. The programme is carried out by a team of experienced international and local consultants, managed from the project office located in Tbilisi.

The creation of a property register for national water began in Azerbaijan in 2007. This system will facilitate the effective management of water resources, both internal and those crossing borders. It will also facilitate data exchange between the various departments involved in the process, and coordination of their activities. The South Caucasus Water Programme of the US International Development Agency is providing help with the drawing up, construction and use of the information system. Similar help is also being provided to Georgia and Armenia.

World Day

World Water Day is one of the most important international ecological dates. For the world community the problem of clean drinking water is one of the most urgent. In the 20th century consumption rose seven-fold. The planet's reserves of fresh water are declining catastrophically. According to data from the World Meteorological Organization, the entire population of the planet might face shortages of drinking water by the year 2020. And although the Earth has sufficient potential supplies of water, they are not distributed evenly. Thus a fight for water resources could become a cause of armed conflict in the 21st century. According to calculations by the World Commission on Water, every person needs 40 litres a day for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. However, about 1bn people, in 28 countries, do not have access to sufficient quantities of this vital resource. The shortage of clean drinking water is one of the most urgent problems in Africa. In developing countries, 80 per cent of illnesses and diseases are linked, to a greater or lesser extent, precisely to shortages of clean water.

The effective management of water requires not only a sharp decrease in unnecessary use of this valuable resource. It also requires a taking into account of global climate change and major man-made influences which cause desertification and the disappearance of forests. Experts note the importance of ensuring the purity of water for human consumption. Several billion people do not have access to water today that is microbiologically clean. Everyone should draw their own conclusions...