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As simple as it may seem, lining the irrigation pathways with a non-permeable barrier was not done during initial installation of the paths. Decades later, with the acknowledgement of water loss, the South Caucasus nations have not lined their irrigation channels. If this were done, large quantities of water would be saved from seepage into the ground. In a region where there is water scarcity is a common concern, saving this much water would help relieve some pressure. Conserving this water would also dilute the current waterways making the water 'cleaner'.

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Solutions provided such as public education, governmental regulations on dumping and lining irrigation channels. Not only are the nations in the South Caucasus fighting water scarcity, the water they do have is incredibly polluted. The Kura-Arak watershed was once considered to have hazardous water conditions. If this is sustained, animals will be forced to vacate the ecosystem changing the whole dynamic.
These countries are also losing mass amounts of water through irrigation channels that have not been lined with a barrier. Taking water from the surrounding ecosystem and essentially wasting it to some regard, is in the hands of the governments of the region. This should become one of their main responsibilities for the citizens as well as the wildlife that use these waters.
Economically, the countries are not necessarily well off so not every project is rational. Depending on the economic situation of the country, a cheap way of improving the situation would be informing the public and monitoring the waste that is dumped into the rivers. However, if the quality of the drinking water is of high importance, funding treatment plants, regulations and sewage disposal services should be installed.

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Educating the public on the issues of water quality is very important. Many locals and people that have spent their whole lives reliant on this water supply believe the water is fine and does not pose a health concern. A quote from an elderly man from Azerbaijan read, "...Running water clears itself of dirt.”(Cleaning). This in fact is not the truth and could not be much more inaccurate. If members of the communities believe the previous statement, than water health is not in the near future. However, if these individuals are taught about the real state of their water, they would develop concern, forcing governments to become involved in the process.

“Cleaning up the Kura.” Institute for War and Peace Reporting, iwpr.net/global-voices/cleaning-kura-0.

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Cleaning a water source with very poor quality is difficult. It takes a large percentage of the population to be on board and cooperate to a point of solution. The simplest way to start restoring the water quality of the South Caucasus rivers would be to monitor industrial dumping of pollutants. Governments of all the countries need to establish an understanding that this is the only water source available and that without it, relocation is probable.

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Because of the severity of this issue, a true solution has yet to be reached within the region. The simplest solution is to increase the regulations on waste water and what is dumped into the rivers. Currently, water quality standards are very low and really only preserve the water to a standard of drinking. Also, because multiple countries encompass the watershed, getting all of these nations on board with the same environmental standards would be difficult. Introducing new technology and requirements to multiple countries who do not fully understand the importance of water quality is a task in its own. Implementing these standards would be another entirely.

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As of recent years, efforts by ecologist to clean up the waters of the Kura-Arak water basin have been in full force. However, countries and their governments have not been very cooperative. The efforts to restore the rivers to a healthier state have been slow and governments are not inclined to help. The only concern of the governments is that the available water is clean enough to drink.

“Cleaning up the Kura.” Institute for War and Peace Reporting, iwpr.net/global-voices/cleaning-kura-0.

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The services provided by the water basin are strictly provisionary services. Primary uses of the water involves irrigating crops and use for drinking water. Throughout the South Caucasus region, countries are not focused on the beauty and general importance of the water, but the functional importance. Because of this view on the waterways through the region, water quality in the region has remained poor, but just good enough to be used as drinking water.

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Unfortunately, the population of this region does not have a spiritual connection with water. Nor is there a huge appreciation for water. Sadly, water in the South Caucasus region is an essential resource that is used strictly as such. Water is used for drinking and water crops. As important as these two uses are, the social significance of water and its beauty are not heavily acknowledged. This can be quickly observed in their contamination of the waters with huge delays in attempting to restore them.

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Because of the variation of terrain found in the South Caucasus region, many different types of species are found. There are hundreds of different bird and mammal species. In Azerbaijan alone, there are about 400 different species of birds with some being endemic to the area. Throughout the whole South Caucasus region, around 940 species have been labeled endemic species, a very large amount for a relatively small region.

“About WWF in Azerbaijan.” WWF, wwf.panda.org/wwf_offices/azerbaijan/.

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This region of the world is incredibly diverse in the landscape and the species living in them. Within the borders of Azerbaijan, the are nine essential climate types (wwf). Because of this, the diversity of animals is incredibly vast and abundant. However, just as people, animals require clean water. The main source of water for the people living in this area, the Kura-Arak water basin, also provides for all species living here. Streams and rivers in semi-arid regions like those found in the South Caucasuses, are areas of diversity and home to a greater variety of species than away from the water. This means, with deterioration of the water quality throughout these countries, animals will have to relocate in order to find viable water options. If non are found in the nearby areas, species will migrate until they find one, vacating the ecosystem. Even if the species leaving are not keystone species, drastic alterations to the existing ecosystem can occur, similar to the moose populations effect on Yellowstone without wolves.

“About WWF in Azerbaijan.” WWF, wwf.panda.org/wwf_offices/azerbaijan/.

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Georgia, the only country in this region with a significant water source, does not contribute heavily to the use and pollution of the Rivers within. On the other hand, its neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan are heavily reliant on this water source. Roughly 28% of Armenia's renewable water comes from this watershed. This value is greatly surpassed by Azerbaijan, who obtains nearly 60% of their renewable water is from these two rivers and their tributaries (Hydro).
With such great variations in precipitation within the individual countries using the watershed, irrigation channels have been made and divert large amounts of the rivers waters for crops. As governments attempt to mediate this use, years of drought in certain locations creates need for additional sources of water (ucis). Though, as the climate continues to shift, the decrease in precipitation already seen, may lead to a greater reliance on the rivers whose quality is already suffering.

Hydrostrategy, Hydropolitics, and Security in the Kura‐Araks Basin of the South Caucasus

Rozengurt, Micheal, et al. “SOVIET WATER POLICY MANAGEMENT : Origins and Implications of Th e Current Crisi s.” Final Report to Nation Council for Soviet and East European Research, Oct. 1989, www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1989-803-20-2-Rozengurt.pdf.

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The changes in climate patterns around the world have heavily impacted areas where drinking water is already an issue. The current changes of today's climate has lead to continuing droughts through countries where ground water is rare. With reports of precipitation having already declined 3% and temperature increases are seen around 1C and are predicted to be up to 2.3C hotter by 2046. With precipitation decreases and temperature increases, leading to more evaporation, the amount of available surface water will decrease drastically. If these changes continue, this region will transform from semi-arid to arid, altering the surrounding ecosystems and the interactions within (Zarghami).

Zarghami, Mahdi, et al. “Impacts of Climate Change on Runoffs in East Azerbaijan, Iran.” Global and Planetary Change, vol. 78, no. 3-4, 2011, pp. 137–146., doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2011.06.003.

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Because of the vast amount of farm land in the South Caucasus region, irrigating these lands was a primary concern before evaluating the environmental impacts of such project. By diverting mass amounts of water for farm use, the amount of available water moving through the rivers was reduced. In a region that already suffers from a lack of renewable water sources, the irrigation channels installed during the Soviet reign were not lined with a barrier, allowing large portions of irrigated water to seep into the ground. As the irrigated water is lost to the ground, the density of pollutants in the water increases. During the worst time of pollution and irrigation in the region, plans by the still intact USSR to eventually relocate 5 million people were being thought out (Rozengurt).

Rozengurt, Micheal, et al. “SOVIET WATER POLICY MANAGEMENT : Origins and Implications of Th e Current Crisi s.” Final Report to Nation Council for Soviet and East European Research, Oct. 1989, www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1989-803-20-2-Rozengurt.pdf.

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Again, due to the water regulation issues during the late 1900's, mass amount of chemicals entered the highly important water ways of the region. As industries grew, as did the amount of chemicals entering the waters. Because the political leaders in the area were focused on development and not the environment, fisheries and the fishing industry heavily declined. As a result of agricultural runoff, human waste water and industrial dumping, the fishing industry sustained a huge loss causing the government to step in and help resolve the issue.
Rozengurt, Micheal, et al. “SOVIET WATER POLICY MANAGEMENT : Origins and Implications of Th e Current Crisi s.” Final Report to Nation Council for Soviet and East European Research, Oct. 1989, www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1989-803-20-2-Rozengurt.pdf.

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Unlike the U.S. and some other more developed nations, a majority of the world has little to no political regulation on waste water treatment and disposal. This is true for the Caucasus region. Multiple sources of pollutants infiltrate the waterways of this region. The primary pollutant in these water ways is waste water from humans and industry. In combination with the pollution cause by farming, the water ways of the South Caucasus have reached near hazardous levels, effecting a huge populations drinking water.

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Farming, all over the globe, requires large amounts of water, and now fertilizer. Farming has become so important, that in some regions it is prioritized over drinking water to some extent. In areas such as the South Caucasus, where the U.N. states that roughly 54% of the land is used for farming, both the quality and the quantity of available water has become a concern. This concern for the quality of the waterways has been an issue for decades but has been looking better in recent years. Not only does farming remove available drinking water, the practices used today have large impacts on the environment. Fertilizers used on crops seep into the ground and enter the surrounding waterways contributing to the poor water quality

In a region where drinking water is already a concern, allocating large portions of water to farming heavily effects the surrounding populations. Because of this farming, water is removed from the rivers and used to water fertilized crops. As movement in the watershed continues, these excess fertilizers seep into the ground and make their way into the nearby river, a process that continues throughout the entire watershed.

“Agricultural Land in the Caucasus Ecoregion: GRID-Arendal.” GRID, www.grida.no/resources/7901.

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Because this region is primarily mountains and high plains, groundwater is not not abundant outside of Georgia. Because of this, countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan and parts of Iran and Turkey rely on the rivers as a source of drinking water among other things. Within Azerbaijan, the most water deficient, 70% of the country's drinking water is obtained from the rivers.
However, being the last country that the rivers flow through, the quality of the water is very low and has been considered hazardous in the past (ucis). And with precipitation as low as 200 mm in some regions, if water quality within the rivers plummet, serious consequences could be experienced.

Rozengurt, Micheal, et al. “SOVIET WATER POLICY MANAGEMENT : Origins and Implications of Th e Current Crisi s.” Final Report to Nation Council for Soviet and East European Research, Oct. 1989, www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/1989-803-20-2-Rozengurt.pdf.

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Though the Arak River is shorter than the Kura at 1,072 km, the volume of water carried is greater. After originating in Turkey, The Arak travels through all of the South Caucasus countries except Georgia. Once in Azerbaijan, the discharge of the Araks River is around 13.47 km³ per year.

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With a length of 1,515 km, the Kura is the longer of the two rivers that form the Water basin. Rising in Georgia, the Kura and its tributaries are responsible for an annual discharge of roughly 11.9 km3 per year before meeting the Arak River in Azerbaijan.

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This region, shown below, includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey to the west and Iran to the south. The river basin formed by the converging rivers spans an area of roughly 123.572 km²  through the all the South Caucus region. Converging about 150 km inland, the Kura and Arak rivers flow into the Caspian Sea (far right body of water). Once the two rivers converge the discharge into the Caspian Sea is  estimated at 25.38 km³ per year.

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Kura and Arak River Watershed of the South Caucasus

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Kura and Arak River Watershed of the South Caucasus

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Riley Haub-McElreath