Hydro-electric stations are dangerous
Small hydro-electric stations are harming the water and thermal regimes of the rivers and creating obstacles for fish reproduction. The construction of the stations causes ecological problems, say participants of the round-table discussion held today at the Orhus center in Yerevan.
According to Head of the Environmental Protection Department of the RA Ministry of Nature Protection Aram Gabrielyan, the small rivers may become a source of energy, but preference must be given to drinking and irrigation water, fishing and then energy production.
There are 60 hydro-electric stations in Armenia, but there are prospects for broadening the business.
Ecologists are also concerned that the stations are not built correctly. As head of the Armenia branch of the World Wilderness Fund Karen Manvelyan told "A1+", the stations are built disproportionately and the water is used without considering what it's used for.
According to Karen Manvelyan, there are two important things-interests of the local population and nature. "The susceptibility of the ecosystem is not taken into account. The trees nearby are eliminated and the population's interets are not taken into account either. People have their lands, cultivate them, receive profits, but all that is eliminated with the construction of the hydro-electric stations."
When Head of the Division of Restoring Energy of the Department of Development at the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources Daniel Stepanyan tried to justify that the stations are put into action after they are examined, Karen Manvelyan opposed: "Nobody can exclude that they are examined, but for some reason, regardless of the issues, they are still passed," said Karen Manvelyan in closing.
