Armenia’s National Assembly today, by a vote of 64-19, passed a bill allowing for additional water releases from Lake Sevan.

The bill allows for an 245 million cubic annual water release from Sevan as compared to the current 170 million.

The bill needs to pass a second reading before being signed into law.

Much of the water released from Sevan is used for agricultural irrigation since the underground aquifer in the Ararat Valley has been greatly depleted of late.