Partnering to Save Water in Armenia
USAID works to advance scientific research in Armenia’s Ararat Valley
The Ararat Valley is considered the breadbasket of Armenia, accounting for about 40 percent of the country’s agricultural production. It has historically functioned as a lush, fertile crescent, ideal for farming and a source of ample groundwater. However, the emergence of largely unregulated fish farming as a primary industry in the Ararat Valley in the early 2000s, along with unreliable water-use monitoring systems and practices, placed a strain on the region’s groundwater supply.
These recent agricultural developments have upset the natural balance of the region, draining Armenia’s water resources and jeopardizing the domestic crop supply. Today, groundwater in the Ararat Valley is overused at a rate of about 50 percent, and fish farming is the primary culprit.
“The depletion of groundwater causes a lot of problems for other users, including communities [who rely on it] for drinking water,” says Marina Vardanyan, an Environmental Officer at USAID’s Mission in Armenia who manages the water and energy portfolio. “To some extent the problem [is] caused by the fish farms, because they use a lot of water.”
Monitoring and measuring water use against the permitted amount, and collecting respective fees are also challenges for some communities, leading to unnecessary water and revenue losses.
USAID has been a leader in helping the government of Armenia address the water crisis in the Ararat Valley. Building on the work of a number of USAID programs to conserve water, in 2015 researcher teams led by Vardan Urutyan, from International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education Foundation (ICARE) and Stephen Schoenholtz, from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center at Virginia Tech, launched the four-year Sustainable Fisheries for Enhanced Water Resources in Armenia (SFEWRA) project to study water loss at fisheries through USAID’s Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) program. PEER promotes scientific research and collaboration worldwide by funding research and partnership activities, such as SFEWRA. SFEWRA was implemented by ICARE, a local organization in Armenia.
Partnerships Generate Outcomes
PEER brings diverse experts together — from both the United States and USAID partner countries — to collaborate towards a common goal. Through SFEWRA for example, ICARE researchers visited experts at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., where they learned about water-saving technologies that could be adopted by Armenian fish farms.
Lusine Tadevosyan, a graduate student at the time, was recruited to serve as the project manager of SFEWRA, which aimed to help fish farmers build more sustainable business models to promote more efficient water use in the Ararat Valley and ultimately save water. Well aware of the crisis in the Ararat Valley, Lusine recognized the problem stemmed from the inefficient use of groundwater resources, mainly by fish farmers.
Collaboration was at the heart of the SFEWRA project. According to Lusine, her team synthesized the international practices they learned through the exchange opportunities and brought that expertise back to their communities in Armenia.
SFEWRA coordinated with two USAID/Armenia projects — Advanced Science and Partnerships for Integrated Resource Development and Participatory Utilization and Resource Efficiency of Water to advance research on water saving technologies and empower Armenia’s scientific community, local governments, and the public, to address the water crisis in the Ararat Valley.
Testing Innovative Solutions
The SFEWRA researchers developed a recirculation aquaculture system (RAS), an innovative technology that purifies and recycles fish-farm water to minimize water waste. A RAS was then designed and installed at a small-scale fish farm in the Ararat Valley, owned locally by Asatur Muradyan, to test its effectiveness.
Results from the new technology were almost instant.
“Due to the recirculation [of the RAS], we are increasing the water’s flow in the pond,” explains Lusine. “That is why we can increase the stocking density in the pond, and produce more fish than previously.”
This means that Asatur can produce and sell more fish, increasing his profits. The RAS enables his farm to reuse water four times over, cutting waste and increasing efficiency. Asatur’s farm is a model for how to save and reuse water. And a bonus result: a cascade of positive economic effects in his community.
In the year and a half since its conclusion, SFEWRA’s impacts continue to reverberate throughout Armenia.
ICARE has continued to train and educate fish farmers, local government officials, and policy makers on the scientific benefits of new technologies in fish farming. Without the exchange opportunities and research funding provided through the PEER program, ICARE would not be as equipped to provide the technical expertise for which it is now relied on.
Personal relationships in the community have proven to be enduring as well. Lusine, who is now employed as a research director for ICARE, still keeps in touch with the farmers with whom she worked on the project, and regularly shares her expertise with new farmers.
Asatur has served as a resource to other farmers in the region; the pilot RAS on his farm has drawn attention from the local community, generating buzz around integrating water-saving technologies throughout the region. Today the Armenian aquaculture community continues to move towards greater sustainability, leveraging the power of partnership to catalyze positive change.
About the Author
Brianna Beiler is a Program Support Specialist on the Program Office Communications Team of the USAID Bureau for Democracy, Development, and Innovation.
