Author(s): Armine Simonyan; Andranik Andreasyan; Hasmik Mikayelyan
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Lake; Restoration; Eutrophication
Abstract: Republic of Armenia is a landlocked country with an area of 29, 800 km2. Armenia lies completely in the Kura-Araks River basin. The Araks River marks the border between Turkey and Armenia, and further between Iran and Armenia, before flowing into Azerbaijan, where it flows into the Kura River. The Araks River basin covers 22, 790 km 2 in Armenia and drains 76. 6% of the territory. The tributaries flowing directly into the Kura River in the north-east drain less than 23% of the country. Armenia is relatively rich in water resources; however the water is unevenly distributed throughout the country. Northeastern part of the country (Tavush region where the lake Gosh is located) is one of the areas with high water shortage at the same time with western, southeastern, and southern parts of Armenia. It is estimated that 5% of the population lives in the areas that experience water shortages. Other parts of the country have available water resources, but they have inadequate water storage and infrastructure facilities, deficient maintenance practices to address leakage in the systems, as well as other inefficiencies. There are more than 9000 rivers in Armenia, but only 6 of them are longer than 100 km. The lakes in Armenia are relatively small, with the exception of Lake Sevan which covers approximately 16% of the territory. The north-eastern part of the republic, where the lake Gosh is located, is one of the areas with high water shortage. The lake is located in the middle forest area in a very picturesque place with a unique nature and rich biodiversity. Especially it concerns to the rare species of water birds of the Gosh Lake a part of which disappeared during the last decades. Also leeches living here were disappeared. This may be connected with the introduction of some fish and crayfish into the lake. There is an idea that some species of water plants, which covers almost half of the Lake, also encourages the process of Lake’s destruction. It is necessary to mention that for a number of decades the lake's water quality and ecosystem continue to be threatened by pollution from non-point sources such as agricultural runoff. Authors carried out the biological, physical and chemical analysis of the lake's water and suggested the possible alternatives for the restoration of lake Gosh. According to calculated saprobic indices it is possible to conclude that the Lake Gosh belongs to betamesosaprobic level of saprobity according to the investigated hydrobiological parameters, which means that the lake is moderately polluted with different organic compounds. The study envisages conduction of continuous monitoring of the Lake Gosh that will allow more precise estimation of the lake's state and conditions. Further studies will also include investigation of factors influencing the phytoplankton community, especially zooplankton grazing and toxic substances, which were not completely covered during the mentioned period. Recommendations on improvement of the phytoplankton usage efficiency in estimating the ecological and trophic conditions of Lake Gosh will be also elaborated as a part of overall activities of the study.
Year: 2007