After conducting on-site inspections at a number of mini hydro- power plants in Armenia’s northeastern Tavoush Province, the Armenian Environmental Front (AEF) has issued a report stating that the rivers from which the water is drawn can be dead eco-systems.

The AEF says that water outflow below the plants is totally insufficient to sustain the flora and fauna that once existed in the rivers and along their banks.

The AEF team found that no water measuring equipment had been installed and that water level automatic regulatory systems were lacking.

Ironically, hydro-plant operators have built cement fish ladders that are either impassable for whatever fish stocks have survived downstream or else have no water flows.

The AEF says it has documented these violations and has forwarded the photographs to the Ministry of Nature Protection.