Outlook on Climate Change Adaptation in the South Caucasus Mountains

Integrating Climate Change Considerations into the River Basin Management Plans of Armenia (RBMP) CASE STUDY

Background and Legal Framework for Climate Adaptation Mainstreaming into RBMP The main purpose of the Water Code of the Republic of Armenia Adopted by its National Assembly on June 4th, 2002 is the conservation of national water reserves, meeting the water needs of its citizens and economy through effective management of usable water resources, securing ecological sustainability of the environment, as well as the provision of a legal basis to achieve the objectives of this Code (Government of the Republic of Armenia 2002). The Code recognises the importance of integrated water management and river management principles. In 2006, the Law on the National Water Programme was adopted. This law provides further clarity on various issues, including definition of the various types of “reserves”, classification of water systems and identification of those of state significance, assessment of water demand and supply, development of a strategy for storage, distribution, and use of water resources, delineation of the issues in various water subsectors (for example, water supply andwaste water collection, irrigation, hydropower), development of water standard guidelines, and improvement of water resources monitoring. Short-term (until 2010), medium-term (2010–15), and long-term (2015–21) measures for implementation of the National Water Programme were also identified (Winston et al 2014). The Protocol decision of the Government of Armenia No. 4 was adopted on the third of February

2011 “On approval of the content of the model plan for water basin management”. According to this decision consideration should be given to climate change factors while developing plans for the management of all of Armenia’s major river basins. Recently three programmes were developed with international assistance. The Debed and Aghstev river basin management draft plans (EU), the Arpa river basin management draft plan (UNDP/GEF), and the Southern Basin Management Plan which will be submitted to the Armenian government in 2015 (USAID 2015). Climate adaptation under the southern basin management plan Sustainable use of water resources is linked to the establishment of balanced issuance of water permits and regulations with a focus on long-term environmentally sound planning of water resources. Currently such a decision-making support system is underway through assessments in the southern basin management area. It will enable evidence- based decision-making on the management of water resources considering hydrological, climatic and economic analysis (USAID 2015). In order to have evidence-based decision-making, scientific data on water resources is required. With this in mind, the USAID “Clean Energy and Water” programme implemented a study on the impacts of current and future water use on the balance, depletion and recharge rates of ground

water resources in the Ararat valley, using different development and climate change scenarios. The findings and recommendations of the assessment were presented to the Armenian government and national/international stakeholders in 2014. The Armenian government adopted two decisions aimed at the sustainable management of ground water resources in the Ararat valley: Decision No. 340-N (adopted on April 3, 2014) on “Approval of the procedure for issuing water use permits for illegally-operated and also non-operated wells, as well as on the procedure for liquidation and conservation of such wells“ and Protocol Decision (adopted on June 26, 2014) on “Approval of the terms of reference for introducing centralised, automated management system for water use in the Ararat valley“ (ARLIS 2015). The development of the Southern Basin Management Plan is in progress, and the draft plan should be submitted to the Armenian government in 2015 (USAID 2015). The southern basin, with an area of 4,498 km 2 , covers the three major river basins – Vorotan, Voghji and Megriget. The main water consumers in the basin are industrial (mainly mining and power plants), agricultural (mainly producer of cereals and potatoes and cattle livestock) and households (ca. 141,000 inhabitants as of January 2014). More than 80 per cent of industrial enterprises are concentrated in the Voghji river basin, whereas electricity production is mainly concentrated in the basin of the river

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