C11 - Nutrients in freshwater of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Are concentrations of nutrient in surface waters in the Republic of Azerbaijan decreasing?
Figure 1 - Nutrients in surface waters (2001-2017)
Data sources:
Data was provided from National Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources under the ENI SEIS II East project activities
Note: the data series are calculated as the average of annual mean concentrations of phosphate (mg P/l) (top) nitrate (mg NO3-N/l) (bottom) for river monitoring sites in the whole of Azerbaijan (left) and in different regions (right) for the period 2001-2017. Lakes; the data series are calculated as the average of annual mean concentrations of phosphate (mg P/l) (left) nitrate (mg NO3-N/l) (right) for lake/reservoir monitoring sites in Azerbaijan for the period 2001-2017. The number of monitoring sites is 8 for both determinants.
There is a tendency of decrease in the average river phosphate concentration for the whole country since 2012. However, the average concentration was still more than the double at the end of the time series compared to the start. The concentrations in Gazakh-Ganja and in particular in Shirvan increased markedly from 2009 to 2011. In Gazakh-Ganja the concentrations continued to increase steadily also after this. A slower, but steady increase is also seen for the Guba-Khachmaz region.
Average river nitrate concentrations decreased strongly over the studied time period, and in particular from 2011 onwards, reaching very low average levels from 2014 onwards. The time series pattern was fairly similar between the different regions, but at the beginning of the time series the nitrate concentration was higher in Gazakh-Ganja and Shirvan than in Guba-Khachmaz and Lankaran-Astara. The highest levels were observed in Nakchivan, but this region was only represented by one monitoring site.
Lake and reservoir phosphate concentrations showed a strong increase and a subsequent decrease starting in 2009. The concentration level has increased over the time period as a whole, with the values at the end being around 1.5 times higher than at the beginning of the time series.
For nitrate, the concentration pattern for lakes and reservoirs was opposite of that seen for rivers, with lowest concentrations at the start of the time series. The average concentration increased abruptly somewhat before the increase seen for lakes but has more than halved since 2009. Still the current levels are about four times higher than at the beginning of the time series.
What is the current state of nutrient concentrations in surface waters in the Republic of Azerbaijan?
Figure 2 - Rivers - Phosphate (2017)
Data sources:
Data was provided from National Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources under the ENI SEIS II East project activities
Note: Distribution of river monitoring sites to phosphate concentration classes in different regions of Azerbaijan, based on the average of annual mean concentrations for 2016-2017. The number of monitoring sites per region is given in parenthesis.
The class system is the same as the one used in the EEA indicator WAT 003 - Nutrients in freshwater in Europe. See the indicator specification section there for further information.
Figure 3 - Lakes- phosphate and nitrate (2017)
Data sources:
Data was provided from National Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources under the ENI SEIS II East project activities
Note: Distribution of lake/reservoir monitoring sites to phosphate (left) and nitrate (right) concentration classes across Azerbaijan, based on the average of annual mean concentrations for 2016-2017. The number of monitoring sites is given in parenthesis.
The class system is the same as the one used in the EEA indicator WAT 003 - Nutrients in freshwater in Europe. See the indicator specification section there for further information.
Current phosphate and nitrate concentrations were generally low at river sites in Azerbaijan, and way below the national maximum allowable concentrations (1.1 mg P/l and 10 mg NO3-N/l, respectively). In the Gazakh-Ganja and Shivan regions about 40% of the sites had phosphate concentration in the range 0.02-0.05 mg P/l. These sites should receive particular attention in the case of increasing phosphate concentrations. The nitrate concentration was always below 0.2 mg NO3-N/l.
Low nitrate concentrations were found also for lakes and reservoirs, although slightly higher than for rivers. Lake Shabran and Jandar had concentration above 0.8 mg NO3-N/l, and only Jeyranbatan reservoir was below 0.2 mg NO3-N/l. For phosphate the difference was bigger, with 30% of the sites above 0.1 mg P/l. This represents only three sites (Boyukshor, Lake Shabran and Yasamal gol), but for these sites the phosphate level is sufficiently high to cause eutrophication.
Indicator specification
Indicator definition
Concentrations of phosphates and nitrates in rivers and lakes (phosphate was used instead of total phosphorus in lakes)
Units
The concentration of phosphates and total phosphorus is expressed as mg of P/litre the concentration of nitrates is expressed as mg of NO3-N/litre.
Rationale
Justification for indicator selection
Agriculture has increased widely in the river basins of the country. Emissions of nitrogen and phosphorus to the water bodies as a result of fertilizer use in agricultural areas has a negative impact on aquatic flora and fauna, and causes certain problems related to the use of water for drinking water purposes.
Good environmental conditions related to nutrient concentrations in surface waters is essential to meet the requirements of national environmental legislation and related EU directives: the Water Framework Directive, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.
The water resources of Azerbaijan are limited in comparison with other countries in the South Caucasus and are only 15 per cent of all water resources in the region. The sources of surface water resources of the country are rivers, lakes, water reservoirs and glaciers. The Dependency ratio of Azerbaijan to upstream countries is around 67-70% of its total renewable freshwater resources. Azerbaijan is a water-scarce country facing severe water stress conditions, with a long-term average annual water exploitation index (WEI) of greater than 30.5 % (WEI = 41.2 % in 2017) (See C2 and C3 indicators for more detailed information).
There are 21 transboundary rivers in the country, and most of them are in the basins of the Kura and Araz rivers. The Kura and Araz basins are located in three and four countries, respectively.
Following the accession to the UNECE Helsinki Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, water quality control activities in the Kura and Araz rivers, which are the main transboundary rivers, have been set up in accordance with international standards.
Taking into account pollution level of water already in the upstream countries, monitoring of water quality in Azerbaijan is crucially important. With that purpose, analytical research laboratories were established in the Qazakh and Beylegan districts, with the aim of conducting monitoring activities in the Kura and Araz rivers and their transboundary tributaries.
Scientific references
-
Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban wastewater treatment
-
Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy (Water Framework Directive) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/waterframework/index_en.html;
Policy context and targets
Context description
National policy context
The “State program of socio-economic development of regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2019-2023” states the aim to protect the environment and ensure clean water. The “Water Code of the Azerbaijan Republic” describes the principles for management, monitoring, use and protection of water bodies. Article 81 states that “All waters (water objects) must be protected and defended of pollution, contamination, exhaustion, which may bring damage to the health of population, and also may cause decrease of fish reserves, worsening of conditions for water supply and other unfavourable phenomena as a result of changed physical, chemical, biological characteristics of waters, decrease of their abilities for natural self-cleaning, violation of hydrologic and hydro geologic regime of waters”. Article 78 sets limitations on the discharge of waste-water.
The National Program on Water Supply and Sewerage has the aim of providing the population with a water supply and sanitation system that meets international standards. Since 1995, significant improvements have been made in the field of water quality within the framework of the programme, particularly in the cities.
Currently, the Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for integrated water resources management is under development. The National Water Strategy (NWS) is aimed at the development of water resources management and water protection as well as water supply and sanitation in Azerbaijan to better meet both international and EU level standards and objectives. The draft Strategy contains goals, which are divided into short-term (6 years), medium-term (18 years) and long-term goals.
Joint work regarding the implementation of “Targeted Indicators” with the relevant state bodies are going on according to the Protocol on Water and Health. In this regard, by the provisions of the Water Convention and its Water and Health Protocol, Targeted Indicators of the Republic of Azerbaijan were developed and approved by the Joint Order of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.
International policy context
The Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) aims to ensure the sustainable use of transboundary water resources by facilitating cooperation. The Water Convention strengthens transboundary water cooperation and measures for the ecologically-sound management and protection of transboundary surface waters and groundwater.
Targets
National targets
The main target and national water policy is to ensure that throughout country, a sufficient quantity of good-quality water is available for people's needs and for the environment.
The national maximum allowable concentrations are
Phosphate: 3.5 mg PO4/l (1.1 mg P/l)
Nitrate: 45 mg NO3 /l (10 mg NO3-N/l)
International targets
The UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 target 6.3 aims to achieve, by 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally
Related policy documents
-
State program of socio-economic development of regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2019-2023
-
The UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
Methodology
Methodology for indicator calculation
Following joining the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, water quality control activities in the Kura and Araz rivers, which are the main transboundary rivers, have been met by international standards. Operational monitoring has been arranged in both rivers based on the guidelines on "Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes Monitoring and Evaluation", prepared by a team of qualified UN experts. Considering that the Kura and Araz rivers are subject to more contamination by crossing the neighboring states, analytical research laboratories have been established in Gazakh and Beylagan regions equipped with equipment for the monitoring of these rivers and their transboundary areas at the level of modern requirements.
The monitoring programme comprises 47 river monitoring sites and 10 monitoring sites in lakes or reservoirs. Annual time series for each site are calculated by averaging the values for individual samples per year. Aggregated time series are calculated as the average of the individual annual time series. Only time series that are complete after gap filling are included in the aggregated time series. This is to ensure that the aggregated data series are consistent, i.e. including the same sites throughout the time series. In this way assessments are based on actual changes in concentration, and not changes in the number of sites. The time series were aggregated for the whole country, and for rivers also per region (Gazakh-Ganja, Guba-Khachmaz, Lankaran-Astara, Shirvan and Nakhchivan (1 site with nitrate data only)). For lakes/reservoirs the number of sites was too low to split the results on different regions.
For the present state analysis, the monitoring sites were assigned to different concentration classes, based on the average of annual mean concentrations for 2016-2017. All sites with data from 2016-2017 were included in the analysis, independent of the number of years with data within the time period. The results were split on regions for rivers, but only shown for the whole country for lakes/reservoirs.
Methodology for gap filling
Gaps of up to three years are filled by linear interpolation. At the beginning and end of the time series values are extrapolated by copying the first or last value, respectively, for up to three years. Time series with more than three consecutive years missing within the selected time period are not included.
Methodology references
-
ISO 6878:2004- Water quality — Determination of phosphorus — Ammonium molybdate spectrometric method. ISO 6878:2004 specifies methods for the determination of orthophosphate, orthophosphate after solvent extraction, hydrolysable phosphate plus orthophosphate, and total phosphorus after decomposition.
-
ISO 7890-3:1988 -Water quality — Determination of nitrate — Part 3: Spectrometric method using sulfosalicylic acid. Procedure given is applicable to raw and potable water
-
EEA, 2005. EEA core set of indicators guide. EEA Technical report No 1/2005, ISBN 92-9167-757-4, Luxembourg.
-
UNECE, 2018. Guidelines for the Application of Environmental Indicators, Description of C11. Nutrients in freshwater.
-
UNECE, 2018. Guidelines for the Application of Environmental Indicators, Glossary of terms – C11. Nutrients in freshwater.
-
UNSD and UNEP, 2013. Questionnaire 2013 on Environment Statistics. United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme, Questionnaire 2013 on Environment Statistics, Section Water.
Uncertainties
Methodology uncertainty
No methodological uncertainty has been specified.
Data sets uncertainty
No uncertainty has been specified.
Rationale uncertainty
No uncertainty has been specified.
Data sources
Data was provided from National Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources under the ENI SEIS II East project activities