Azerbaijan Airs Planned Timeline For Cutting Water Losses, Expanding Wastewater Treatment

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 1. Azerbaijan plans to meet approximately 90 percent of the country's total water needs, expand wastewater treatment services, implement zero-loss water management, and raise water efficiency in agriculture to 95 percent by 2030, Chairman of the State Water Resources Agency Zaur Mikayilov said at the Baku Climate Action Week, Trend reports.

He pointed out that freshwater reserves in Azerbaijan have taken a nosedive, dropping by about a third since the 1980s.

"The Caspian Sea has shallowed by almost two meters. This is not a forecast, but clear evidence of real changes caused by climate change and human activity. Meanwhile, inefficiencies in the system persist: daily water losses and irrigation losses remain high, and only about a third of the population uses modern wastewater treatment services. These problems cannot be ignored," the official explained.

Mikayilov noted that the National Strategy envisions a comprehensive approach that includes real-time water resource monitoring, a unified management model, and the implementation of an electronic information system that ensures transparency; reducing urban water losses, introducing modern irrigation methods in agriculture, and monitoring investment efficiency; expanding the reuse of treated wastewater, pilot desalination projects, and preserving rivers and wetlands not only as natural resources but also as vital infrastructure for people and future generations.

"By 2040, our key goal is to fully meet the needs of the population, the economy, and industry while adhering to environmental limits," Mikayilov stressed.

The Azerbaijan State Water Resources Agency (ADSEA) was instituted via a Presidential Decree on March 30, 2023, with the objective of optimizing hydrological resource governance and mitigating the challenges associated with water scarcity within the national context. The agency was established through the amalgamation of antecedent hydrological governance bodies into a singular, cohesive framework.

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