EcoLur
The Nature Protection Ministry intends to amend the governmental resolution on the environmental flow, as Davit Grigoryan, Head of Water Permit Department of Nature Protection Ministry, said at the press conference held at EcoLur Press Club on 5 February. The issue of environmental flow is very urgent in SHPP sector. The environmental flow is determined with the average water course within selected 10 days of the driest season in the year, nevertheless, in reality, SHPPs either don’t adhere to this flow, or the flow is so few that it causes disturbance of the river ecosystem and elimination of the fish species.
We present Q&A session between Levon Galstyan, Pan-Armenian Environmental Front, and Davit Grigoryan, Head of Water Permit Department of Nature Protection Ministry:
Levon Galstyan: Last year the Nature Protection Ministry intended to make amendments to the calculation of the environmental flow. Any results?
Davit Grigoryan: At the end of the last year we initiated establishing a working group, which will deal with amending the governmental resolution on the environmental flow and improving it. We sought to do it in the frames of the USAID project. Two days ago we arranged with the USAID and the working group will meet at the USAID office to specify approaches. These approaches are in force and no one has postponed them… even the business support us. If a water resource gets exhausted, the business realizes that it will endanger its operations, so the business in interested to have such a water resource, which will be continuous to support the business. I don’t think that people think of exhausting the resources and that’s it.
Levon Galstyan:
- During the meeting with the SHPP representatives and the Nature Protection Minister was there anyone who said they caused damage? None. They all claimed they don’t cause any damage to nature. All the SHPPs take as much water as they need, and they can even dry up the whole river. We are all sure, let’s acknowledge this fact. We personally visited 25 SHPPs, we have the same situation everywhere: no one adhered to the minimum environmental flow. They use as much as water as needed, and a SHPP stops operating, when there is no water in the river, and a SHPP can’t technically operate. When we asked them why they do so, they replied that they didn’t know water must be left in the river…You fine 100,000 AMD, but this sum is nothing for them. You must develop mechanisms and not fine 100,000 AMD, let’s say 5 million AMD and then deprivation of the license. That’s it.
Davit Grigoryan: You are right, we experience this problem, that’s why we are currently developing mechanisms. Hitting the pocket and deprivation of license is one way, another way is the enforcement of mandatory conditions and technologies, which will enable controlling the water intake…
"The material was developed in the frames of “Supporting reforms in the sector of small hydro power plants through enabling a dialogue between civil society and the Ministry of Nature Protection for sustainable use of river ecosystems” supported by UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme".
February 10, 2015 at 13:45