Armenia: EU4Sevan+ and EU4Green Recovery East celebrate Lake Sevan Day
This year, Lake Sevan Day was celebrated on 30 August. Since 1999, Lake Sevan Day has been celebrated on the last Sunday of August every year. Often called the country’s ‘blue jewel’, Lake Sevan provides water for irrigation, supports biodiversity, attracts visitors, and sustains local livelihoods.
“Raising Lake Sevan’s water level is extremely important, but it is not enough to restore the lake’s health,” said Lilit Abrhamyan, Head of Water Policy Department at the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Armenia. “We need to look at water quantity, water quality and ecosystems together. If we do not improve wastewater treatment, reduce nutrient inflows and manage water withdrawals, Sevan may still be a large lake in 20 years, but it could be warmer, with poorer water quality and a more vulnerable ecosystem.”
The European Union is supporting Armenia’s efforts through two EU-funded projects. EU4Sevan+ focuses on water management and wastewater treatment in the Sevan River Basin, while the regional EU4Green Recovery East programme helps Armenia and other EU Eastern Partnership countries to improve water management, reduce pollution and align with EU environmental legislation.
Together, the projects are exploring how nature-based solutions can complement conventional wastewater management and help to reduce pollution reaching Lake Sevan.
The EU initiatives promote the development of a Code of Good Agricultural Practices, drawing on the principles of the EU Nitrates Directive. According to the EU4Green Recovery East programme, better management of fertilisers and livestock manure could help to reduce nutrient pollution before it reaches rivers and, ultimately, Lake Sevan.
“For farmers in the Lake Sevan basin, the quickest visible results can be achieved not by restricting agriculture, but through more precise management of fertilisers, manure, and irrigation,” said Lilit Abrhamyan. “This is important because nitrogen and phosphorus are major drivers of Sevan’s eutrophication, and agriculture is a significant source of both. In other words, to protect Sevan, farmers should not be told to produce less; they should be helped to produce more efficiently from the same land, so that fertilisers and manure nourish the plants rather than Lake Sevan.”
By combining scientific expertise, local knowledge and European experience, EU4Sevan+ and EU4Green Recovery East are helping to identify practical ways to safeguard one of Armenia’s most valuable freshwater ecosystems.
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