Due to Azerbaijan’s ongoing blockade of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), 96 thousand hectares of land in Azerbaijan will not receive enough water. Artak Beglaryan, adviser to the Minister of State of Artsakh, wrote about this on Telegram.

"The President of Artsakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, in his address on February 23, opened some brackets regarding the energy crisis prevailing in Artsakh and the water resources of Sarsang [Reservoir]. A few facts and emphasis on them.

1. By completely interrupting the supply of electricity from Armenia [to Artsakh] since January 9, as well as periodically interrupting the supply of [natural] gas [from Armenia to Artsakh] throughout the blockade, the Azerbaijani side deliberately provoked the energy crisis as the main means of pressure.
2. Since then, we have switched to crisis management of the energy system—using local hydropower plants at full capacity and limiting consumption as much as possible, including through suspension and shutdowns of the operation of large economic enterprises.
3. During this time, the water resources of Sarsang Reservoir have been severely depleted, as we have released much more water resources—of 50 megawatts—than what is entering Sarsang for the operation of our main hydroelectric power plant.
4. Now the situation is already critical, which means that in a short time we will have an extreme shortage of water resources necessary for the production of electricity, with all the consequences arising from it.
5. The water resources of the Sarsang Reservoir, with a capacity of almost 600 million cubic meters, have been reduced by the vast majority, which will create a serious crisis in the spring and summer; first of all, for Azerbaijani farmers, as the water resources will not be sufficient to irrigate about 96,000 hectares in Tartar, Aghdam, Bardi, Goranboy, Yevlakh, and Akhjabad regions of Azerbaijan.
6. Therefore, the residents of these regions of Azerbaijan should be aware that thanks to their authorities and self-proclaimed fake [Azerbaijani] activists, they will not have irrigation water this year and will be deprived of the possibility of food and income.

P.S. The press secretary of the Artsakh president informed that, through the mediation of the Russian side, an agreement was reached with the Azerbaijani side to repair the damaged [power] grid and restore electricity supply from Armenia [to Artsakh] in the coming days. Simple logic suggests that the sooner the electricity supply to Artsakh is restored, the sooner irrigation water will be accessible to Azerbaijani farmers," wrote the adviser to the Minister of State of Artsakh.