Nagorno Karabakh and a part of Azerbaijan depend on the water supply of the Sarsang basin, the first for electricity, the second for the irrigation of agricultural fields. The drought of this period but above all the blockage of the Lachin corridor caused an intensive exploitation of the reservoir
Sauce
Sarsang Reservoir is located in Nagorno Karabakh between Tartar and Kalbajar in Martakert province. The reservoir was created in 1976 with the construction of a 125m high dam on the Tartar River. The total volume of the reservoir is 575 million m³, the area is 14.2 km2. When open, the reservoir supplies irrigation water to 100,000 hectares in Tartar, Agdam, Barda, Goranboy, Yevlakh and Aghjabadi districts. Sarsang Hydroelectric Power Plant has a capacity of 50 megawatts.
Since 1992, the dam, power plant and reservoir have been under the control of Armenian separatists. The power plant, operated by the Artsakh HEK OJSC, is the source of the 40-60% of the secession region’s electricity under normal conditions. But since December 12, 2022, conditions have been out of the norm. The Lachin block started with the protest of Azerbaijani environmentalists and continued with the creation of a check point in Baku it was accompanied by frequent episodes of interruptions in electricity and gas supplies. As a result, Sarsang has been put under pressure to supply more electricity to the area that has found itself cut off from its supplies.
From eco-protest to water crisis
The alarm bells about the consequences of the intensive exploitation of Sarsang are still ringing in the middle of winter. On February 27, Karabakh ministerial adviser Artak Beglaryan said tweeted : “Because of the #ArtsakhBlockade [il blocco del Nagorno Karabakh, chiamato Artsakh in Armeno, ndr] and especially of the interruption of electricity supply from January 9, 2023, 96,000 hectares of Azerbaijani land will not have enough irrigation water from Sarsang during the season. We have to use a large part of those water resources for electricity production”. A few days earlier the de facto President of Karabakh speaking to the Council of Ministers had done an analysis very similar, arguing that “[…] the water resources of the Sarsang reservoir have greatly diminished. In spring and summer, this will create a major crisis for Azerbaijani farmers, as there will not be enough water resources to irrigate tens of thousands of hectares of land.”
The winter alarm materialized with the arrival of spring. In mid-March the agency of to the press Armenian Armenpress he quoted the statement by Ararat Khachatryan of the Karabakh Water Committee: “The water level in the Sarsang reservoir continues to drop by 50 cm per day with the blockade operated by Azerbaijan. Since 9 January 2023, Azerbaijan has prevented the Nagorno Karabakh authorities from accessing and repairing the damaged electrical transmission line that supplies electricity to Nagorno Karabakh from Armenia. Sarsang is the only source of electricity we have at the moment. The water level is about 8 meters lower than in the same period last year. (…) We hope that the levels of the reservoir will increase in the spring, but even if this were to happen, the results would not be satisfactory. (…) Before the blockade, especially in the winter when the electricity supplied by Armenia was insufficient, we used the Sarsang Reservoir. After the war, there are only five small hydroelectric plants left in Artsakh, operating only below 20% of their capacity. (…) If the power line is not repaired soon, the water level in the Sarsang reservoir will be insufficient”.
The shoal
At the beginning of April the impoverishment of the water resource had already reached a point where the assessment is that it will take years to restore the pre-lockdown water volume. Karabakh had already faced a low rain autumn and low snow winter, so the water supply was already below its potential, and the prospects do not promise a high rain spring. This generates a series of concerns, both relating to the water crisis and a possible capture by force of the area of the power plant and the Sarsang reservoir. The distances are small: Sarsang is only about thirty kilometers from the contact line of the Karabakhi and Azerbaijani armies, and Martakert is the most remote region from Armenia. Karabakh is aware that the reduction of the reservoir will not make it possible to honor the agreement stipulated with Baku last spring on the quantities of water to be released from Sarsang.
In May the situation was like this described : “Compared to the same period last year, from January 9 to today, 3 times more water was released and the water inflow was 2 times less due to dry weather. Now Sarsang’s water resources have reached a critical limit – 88 million m³ (15% of the total), approaching the unusable volume – 70 million m³. This situation not only jeopardizes the prospect of electricity supply for Artsakh and aggravates its daily suffering, but also resulted in huge negative impact on the environment, including drying up of springs, deterioration of microclimate, decline of flora and fauna.” Satellite images show that the surface of the basin has dropped by more than 30 metres, and half of the bed is dry.
International Arbitration
Baku has moved to control the exploitation of resources, including water resources, in the hands of the separatists. Please note that the blockade of environmentalists it was declared precisely for the exploitation of mineral resources.
Azerbaijan today initiated arbitration against Armenia under the Energy Charter Treaty in which it seeks redress and financial compensation for Armenia’s violation of Azerbaijani sovereign rights over its energy resources from 1991 to 2020. In in particular, there is a dispute over the exploitation of the rich karabakhi resources, given that the region has 25% of azerbaijani water resources. Armenia is accused of building at least 37 unauthorized hydroelectric plants on Azerbaijani territory. Sarsang is mentioned in the arbitration request, along with a number of other hydroelectric and mining infrastructures, which Azerbaijan believes has been plundered. The counterpart is indicated as Yerevan, since Baku does not recognize any role for the Karabakhi secessionists, who are not internationally recognized as representatives of a de jure state.
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