Azerbaijan is in the category of countries facing extremely high water stress, Vugar Karimov, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources said at the regional climate conference on “Strengthening Climate Action in the Agro-Food Sector of Europe and Central Asia,” Report informs.
Karimov emphasized the urgent need for efficient water management and a minimum 20% reduction in water usage to alleviate the crisis.
The country's water resources have diminished by a staggering 15% over the past few decades. Karimov revealed that as of 2023, the surface water resources entering from transboundary rivers have decreased by 28.4% compared to the period between 1961 and 1991, largely due to the impact of climate change and neighboring countries' utilization of water resources.
“Azerbaijan annually extracts approximately 13.5 billion cubic meters of water from water bodies, with 3.5 billion cubic meters lost during transportation and use. The remaining 10 billion cubic meters are utilized for irrigation and other purposes. Excluding the water drawn from rivers and transboundary inflows, the total volume stands at 12 billion cubic meters, reaching 16.2 billion cubic meters when groundwater is included,” Karimov said.
To escape the category of extremely high water stress, Karimov stressed the importance of efficient water use and the adoption of water-saving technologies across all sectors of the economy.