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Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry publicizes causes of floods in Kura River

12 May 2010 14:53 (UTC +04:00)

The Kura flows into the Caspian only through the north-eastern branch and the parallel canals. In other words, the water flowing into the Kura is more than the water flowing off the Kura. Therefore, the water level rises,â€ director of the Hydrometeorological Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources Elnar Sultanov told APA.

According to him, on February 17, it was warned that as a result of rain and melting of snow in April-June, the height of the dams in the outfall of the Kura River must be increased.
â€œAs it snowed in April, the snow on the mountains was above normal. It showered more both in Azerbaijan and Georgia. As a result of it, more water flew into our large reservoirs. The water level in Araz reservoir is 36cm above normal (776m). The water level in Mingachevir reservoir was 82.37m yesterday. In other words, 63cm is left to reach the maximal level (83m). As a result of all this, a lot of water flew into the Kura, spillway capacity of the river reduced. So, the dams collapsed and flooding occurred,â€ he said.

Sultanov said the most important thing was to carry out comprehensive measures to clean out mud in Kura River and to strengthen dams throughout the river banks. â€œThe main branch of the river should be cleaned out. The water level in Banka settlement is 2.5 m higher than sea. If the mud is cleaned out, the water will flow into the sea. The river was flooded earlier when the water flow reached 2000 cubic meters/ sec and it was not tackled by silt. But now river-bed lost its ability to flow the water and it is flooded even it reaches 1500-1700 cubic meters/ sec. It is very difficult process to clean out the silt. It needs to send excavators there and to clean out the bed-river mechanically in 5-6 km territory. It demands huge resourcesâ€.

The center director said floods in Kura River didnâ€™t cause rise of water level on the Caspian Sea. Volga River plays an important role in the protection of water balance on the Caspian Sea. In contrary, the sea level reduced 50 cm against the indexes of 1995.