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Greater use of water resources planned in Karabakh and East Zangezur

01 October 2025 13:19 (UTC +04:00)

The main goal of the "National Strategy for the Efficient Use of Water Resources" is to ensure water security in Azerbaijan, strengthen water sustainability, and form a modern water management and water management system, said Aliaga Azizov, head of the department of the Azerbaijan State Water Resources Agency (ADSEA), during a panel discussion on the third day of the "Baku Climate Action Week" (BCAW2025), APA-Economics reports.

He said that the main goal of the strategy is to increase control over water resources and ensure long-term sustainability:

“The first of the main principles and directions is the assessment of water resources. Because all issues start from here. For this, conducting research on hydrology and hydrogeology, obtaining accurate data from these studies, collecting data in real time and applying digital technologies through sensors and automatic devices are the main conditions. The second direction is the efficient management of water resources. This means the application of an integrated water management model. The strategy envisages managing all water resources of Azerbaijan, that is, both transboundary rivers and internal rivers, in a single system. Another important direction is management according to the basin principle. This is especially important in terms of water allocation to agriculture. Agriculture is the largest consumer of water in Azerbaijan. Therefore, basin management is one of the main pillars of the strategy. The next principle is to minimize water loss. Currently, there are leaks, discharges and losses in irrigation and drinking water infrastructure. The goal of the strategy is to significantly reduce these losses by 2040”.

He noted that another goal is to achieve 100% metering in the supply of drinking water.

“One of the key directions of the strategy is also to increase the use of the water potential of the Karabakh and East Zangezur regions. Within the framework of the ‘Great Return’ program initiated by the President, a number of projects are being implemented to ensure water security in Karabakh and East Zangezur. All these principles and objectives are long-term in nature and are envisaged until 2040,” he said.