It Has to Be Said: Draining Strategic Aquifers for Short-Term Profit

2026-01-25 - 21:06

Armenia’s Ararat Artesian Basin, the country’s second-most important freshwater reserve after Lake Sevan, is being drained faster than it can replenish. Years of mismanaged fish farming, weak enforcement and political resistance have pushed this vital aquifer toward collapse. In this episode, Maria Titizian explains why this isn’t just an environmental problem, it’s a national security crisis, threatening water, agriculture and livelihoods across the Ararat plain. In this episode: • How fish farms came to dominate the Ararat plain • What decades of over-extraction mean for drinking water, irrigation and ecosystems • Failed oversight, industry pushback and stalled regulation • Why recent policy changes matter, and why the core debate goes beyond fish farming Read the full story System Failure: Draining Strategic Aquifers for Short-Term Profit Hovhannes Nazaretyan Dec 12, 2025 Armenia’s most vital aquifer is collapsing under decades of unchecked fish farming, illegal drilling and political neglect. The Ararat plain’s groundwater, critical for drinking water and agriculture, is being drained faster than it can recover, forcing the government into a race against ecological collapse. Hovhannes Nazaretyan explains. Read more