The Sarsang Reservoir (, ) is a reservoir located in the Tartar and Kalbajar districts of Azerbaijan. The reservoir was formed by the construction of a dam on the Tartar River.Ministry of Ecology of Azerbaijan: Su anbarları Geographical names supplied by National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: Sərsəng Su Anbarı, Azerbaijan Retrieved on 25 October 2010 The overall volume of the reservoir is 575 million m3.
Overview Sarsang Reservoir was built on the Tartar River by the Soviet authorities in 1976.Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu, Disputed Water, Region Plus, http://www.regionplus.az/en/articles/view/1696 At that time, the district was part of Mardakert District (NKAO). The area of the reservoir is . The height of the dam at the reservoir is . The reservoir has the tallest dam out of all dams in Azerbaijan. When it opened, the reservoir provided irrigation water for in the districts of Tartar, Agdam, Barda, Goranboy, Yevlakh and Aghjabadi.AZƏRBAYCAN RESPUBLİKASI MELİORASİYA VƏ SU TƏSƏRRÜFATI AÇIQ SƏHMDAR CƏMİYYƏTİ: SU ANBARLARI The Sarsang Hydro Power Plant has a generation capacity of 50 megawatts.
In November 1992, in the midst of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the region of Mardakert came under effective Armenian control. The power plant, then operated by Artsakh HEK OJSC, was the source of 40-60% of Artsakh's electricity consumption. Local authorities expressed hopes for the reservoir to be made a major tourism site.
Environmental concerns Azerbaijan maintained that the Sarsang Reservoir, due to poor maintenance, poses a threat to nearly 400,000 people living in the Karabakh lowlands which remained under Azerbaijani control.Tereza Pultarova. Azerbaijan Sarsang Reservoir dam threatens to burst . Engineering and Technology Magazine. 11 June 2013. The country has taken measures to minimise potential damage that water evacuation could cause.Azerbaijan ends building a dam to protect against damage from Sarsang reservoir water evacuation by Armenian invaders . Azerbaijan Business Centre. 16 August 2016. In addition, the exploitation of the reservoir by the Armenian side deprived farmers in seven Azerbaijani villages in the Tartar District from accessing water regularly.Массовая акция протеста в Тертере . Haqqin.az. 13 August 2013.
In 2014, Bosnian member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Milica Marković prepared a report, outlining environmental risks brought upon by the lack of regular maintenance of the dam, as well as a possibility of the frontier regions of Azerbaijan being deprived of water supply as a result of intensive farming, industrial activities, climate change and consumer habits, but also policy mistakes on the part of the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities.Milica Marković. Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water . PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development. On 26 January 2016, PACE (of which both Armenia and Azerbaijan are members) adopted Resolution 2085, whereby it deplored "the fact that the occupation by Armenia of Nagorno-Karabakh and other adjacent areas of Azerbaijan creates similar humanitarian and environmental problems for the citizens of Azerbaijan living in the Lower Karabakh valley" and requested the immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the region in order to allow independent engineers access to carry out an on-the-spot survey. The Assembly also recommended that the Armenian side stopped using water resources as tools of political influence or an instrument of pressure, benefiting only one of the parties to the conflict.PACE Resolution 2085 (2016). Inhabitants of frontier regions of Azerbaijan are deliberately deprived of water . 26 January 2016.
In June 2016, the White House formally responded to a petition signed by over 330,000 people regarding the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and the dangers posed by the Sarsang Reservoir.L'Azerbaïdjan souligne l'importance de la pétition lancée sur le site de la Maison Blanche . TRT. 31 May 2016. In response, the Obama administration expressed its support of the PACE Resolution 2085 and said it would welcome a meeting between technical experts to discuss water management and dam inspections at the reservoir.Marianna Mkrtchyan. White House officially replies to Azerbaijani petition on Nagorno-Karabakh and Sarsang dam . Arminfo. 13 June 2016.
References
External links Ilham Aliyev raised National Flag of Azerbaijan at Sarsang reservoir