YEREVAN. – Today, the condition of Lake Sevan is quite good, and the water transparency level that there is now has never been so in recent years; it’s quite good, qualitatively. Environment Minister Erik Grigoryan noted this at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia, touching upon—at Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s request—the present-day situation at Lake Sevan.

The minister explained that the recent increase in bluish-green algae in the lake was due to several factors: the inflow of wastewater, improperly cleaned areas, cattle-breeding, and climatic changes.

He noted, however, that such a situation was recorded at many other water basins, too.

“Even in these conditions, at this point we have a two-centimeter-higher [water] level,” Grigoryan said. “Also, [this year] we took 36 million cubic meters less water [from the lake] for the Ararat Valley, than last year today.”

PM Pashinyan, in turn, stressed that even though people can swim in Lake Sevan, they have to keep the surrounding area clean and recall the horrifying scenes that were publicized in the press.