Water resource sustainability management issues in the Sevan lake basin in the context of climate change

Vardanyan, Trahel

doi:10.22098/mmws.2025.17899.1631

Water resource sustainability management issues in the Sevan lake basin in the context of climate change

نوع مقاله : Special issue on "Climate Change and Effects on Water and Soil"

نویسنده

Trahel Vardanyan

Department of Physical Geography and Hydrometeorology, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia

10.22098/mmws.2025.17899.1631

چکیده

This work concerns water resource sustainability management issues in the Sevan lake basin in the context of climate change․ The research used the data series (1930-2020) observed by the Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center of RA, as well as short-term field studies conducted by us. The work mainly used the methods of analysis, synthesis, dispersion, and field research. As a result of human economic activity, many water bodies of the earth have been transformed. In this regard a classic example can be Lake Sevan, which has been considered an open-air laboratory for scientific research for nearly a century. It should be noted that the use of the centuries-old resources of Lake Sevan, the inefficient management of water resources, as well as the current and expected climate change have cause irreversible losses to the ecosystem of the basin. The lake’s ecosystem has been damaged and is undergoing eutrophication. In all studied rivers of the Lake Sevan basin, a definite downward trend in maximum runoff was observed and an increase in minimum runoff (except for two). This is likely due to global climate change and changes in peak river runoff. In other words, there is a tendency to equalize the wet and dry seasons. Studies show that in the context of climate change, a negative impact on the water resources of the lake is expected. In the worst-case scenario, river inflow of the Sevan basin will decrease by 34% (265 million m3) by 2100, and lake water evaporation will increase by 36.5% (292.6 million m3), compared to the base period (1961-1990). Consequently, the lake level is expected to drop by about 16 cm per year. in order to solve the problem, it is necessary to make legislative changes, improve the existing water legislation, as well as strengthen the institutional capacity and the water monitoring system.

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موضوعات

مدیریت و برنامه ریزی منابع آب

مراجع

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