|
Surface Area
|
8 660 000 ha
|
|
Cultivated Area
|
2 064 700 ha
|
|
Cultivated Area %
|
23.8
|
|
Population
|
8 781 000
|
|
Average Annual Precipitation
|
447 mm/year
|
|
Average Annual Volume of Precipitation
|
38.71 billion m3/year
|
|
Renewable Surface Water
|
32.52 billion m3/year
|
|
Renewable Groundwater
|
6.51 billion m3/year
|
|
Total Renewable Water (natural)
|
39.03 billion m3/year
|
|
Total Renewable Water (actual)
|
39.03 billion m3/year
|
Azerbaijan, with a total area of 86 600 km2, is located on the southeastern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. About 43 percent of the area of Azerbaijan is situated more than 1 000 m above sea level. The climate in Azerbaijan is continental. Humid tropical weather prevails in the coastal zone near the Caspian Sea. According to data for 2005, the total population is 8.4 million of which 50 percent is rural. In 2009, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was US$ 44 billion. The share of agriculture in GDP dropped from 39 percent in 1990 to 6 percent in 2007, due to extensive industrial development from 1995 to 2004. (1)
The amount of total renewable water is 39.03 billion m3 in Azerbaijan where the estimated average precipitation is 447 mm/year. Azerbaijan has four major river basins, two of which are international. The basin of the Kura and Aras Rivers is the largest basin in the country. Both rivers rise in the northeast Turkey. Kura River with the length of 1 515 km of which 900 km is located within Azerbaijan flows into Georgia and crosses the border to Azerbaijan in the northwest. The total annual inflow from Georgia is estimated at 11.91 billion m3. The Aras River forms the border between Turkey and Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, Iran and Azerbaijan, Iran and Armenia, Iran and Azerbaijan before flowing into the eastern part of Azerbaijan and about 100 km downstream of the border it joins the Kura River and flow southeast towards the Caspian Sea. The total inflow of the main branch of the Araks River and its tributaries from Armenia and Iran is estimated at 13.47 billion m3/year. (2)
The Samur River Basin is located in the northeast of the country. The Samur River, with 2.36 billion m3 estimated annual discharge, rises in the Russian Federation and flows into Caspian Sea. One of the last two basins is the Caspian Sea coastal river basins in the Lankaran region in the southeast, south of the Kura River Basin. Finally, the other basin is the Caspian Sea coastal river basins in the northeast, between the Samur and Kura River Basins. (3)
The total reservoir capacity of dams is around 21.54 billion m3 in Azerbaijan. In 2005, the total wastewater production was 659 million m3. In the same year, water withdrawal was estimated at 12.21 km3, of which 76.4 percent for agricultural purposes, 4.2 percent for municipal uses and 19.3 percent for industrial processes. (4)
The main institutions involved in water resources are all state institutions in Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, which has overall responsibility for the conservation of water resources and the prevention of pollution, issues wastewater discharge permits. The Committee on Ecology and Nature Use is in charge of monitoring salinization and water pollution. The State Committee on Amelioration and Water Management, which is responsible for monitoring water use and for issuing permits for surface water, levies charges for water use. Centre for Epidemiology and Hygiene, which is under the Ministry of Health, is responsible for monitoring drinking water quality. The water sector is regulated by the Water Code (1997), the Law on Water Supply and Wastewater (1999), the Law on Amelioration and Irrigation (1996) and the Law on Environmental Protection (1999). (5)
In regard to transboundary water resources, Azerbaijan signed agreements with Iran on the Aras River, with Georgia on Gandar Lake and with the Russian Federation on the Samur River. No agreement exists regarding the Kura River which is the most important transboundary river in the region. In 1997 the Government of Georgia ratified an agreement with Azerbaijan concerning environmental protection, providing for cooperation in the creation of specifically protected areas within transboundary ecosystems. (6)
Under the implementation of the “Ecoregional Nature Protection Programme for Southern Caucasus” which is a part of the Caucasus Initiative, launched by the German Ministry of Cooperation and Development, three Caucasus countries, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been covered in the programme. From 2000 to 2002 South Caucasus Water Management Project which was designed to strengthen co-operation between water-related agencies at all local, national and regional levels, and demonstrated integrated water resources management was implemented in collaboration with USAID. Between 2000 and 2006, the EU and the Technical Assistance Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS) have developed the Joint River Management Programme on Monitoring and Assessment of Water Quality on Transboundary Rivers in order to provide prevention, control and reduction of trans-boundary pollution impact. The programme covers the Kura River Basin. (7)
From 2002 to 2007, the NATO-OECD has developed the South Caucasus River Monitoring Project which aims to monitor and control water quality and quantity of transboundary rivers in the region covering Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Supported by Sweden, the project “Reducing Transboundary Degradation” in the Kura-Aras River Basin has been realized by the UNDP in collaboration with GEF. This project covers Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran, and aims to ensure the regional cooperation that will monitör quality and quantity of water throughout the Kura-Aras River Basin. (8)
References
(1) FAO, Irrigation in the Middle East region in figures; Aquastat Survey-2008, FAO Water Reports 24, Rome, 2008, p.147.
(2) http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/data/factsheets/
aquastat_fact_sheet_aze_en.pdf.
(3) op. cit., p.150.
(4) op. cit., p.155.
(5) op. cit.
(6) op. cit., p.151.
(7) op. cit., p.152.
(8) op. cit., p.152.