It will probably not be news to anyone that the problem of Sevan’s pollution is very small and endangers all the fresh waters of the Republic of Armenia.
The problem of the flowering of Sevan came up as early as 1918. But since 2019, the problem has become more topical.
Climate change, water level fluctuations and river discharge into the lake are among the main causes of pollution. Mining waste water containing large amounts of heavy metals is discharged into the lake, which in turn degrades the water quality. To prevent this, the construction of treatment and filtration plants is an urgent need. Our republic should try in every way to save Sevan, because it is a matter of life and death for us.
Nitrogen and phosphorus emissions through fertilizers and manure as a result of agriculture and animal husbandry in the adjacent areas of the Lake Sevan basin significantly suppress the water resources of the lake.
Despite the fact that garbage treatment plants have been built in large cities near Lake Sevan, this does not prevent household garbage from entering the lake.
Fish farming accounts for more than 40% of water use in the Sevan Lake basin. It also has a negative impact on the basin, if it is not implemented properly and competently. Bardukh Gabrielyan notes that Sevan fish should not be seen as a source of food, but «the upper link of the trophic layer of the ecosystem».
Apart from all this, we should take into account that Lake Sevan is also a tourist resource. It attracts thousands of tourists, there are many monuments of historical and cultural value in its coastal areas. If we do not preserve Sevan, we will lose another resource, more important than other monuments.
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