Water resources inventory for the Republic of Azerbaijan
The Republic of Azerbaijan is suffering from a water deficit and is confronted with a growing population and climate change. Another challenge is the country’s intention to further diversify its economy and (re)development of the agriculture sector is very promising and high on the political agenda.
For a country like Azerbaijan, having a reliable insight and making use of the most modern technologies is of extreme importance. Aim of the project is to prepare an assessment of all water resources (surface and groundwater) and water demand and to present an analysis of the development of resources and demand under different scenarios and management strategies.
Water shortages
The Republic of Azerbaijan is already suffering from water shortages, while the population is growing. Also, the consequences of climate change are noticeable (HOE). The Republic has the ambition to diversify its economy and within those ambitions the (re)development of the agricultural sector seems promising and is high on the political agenda.
Growth of the agricultural sector
It is Azebaijans ambition to ensure growth of the agricultural sector without further depleting the countries already scarce water resources. Besides this, it is of vital importance that the Republics new water management strategy should also enable efficient and equal distribution of water to all necessary areas, industries and people.
All the collected information is stored in an Azerbaijan Water Information System (AZERWIS). This AZERWIS is not only a database system but is coupled with various software models which will enable the Azerbaijan government to assess different (future) development strategies and water management policies in order to ensure a strong diverse economy not only based on oil and at the same time prepare for future climate change as well as population and economic growth.
