Building a Water Distribution Network for Artsakh’s Driest City

Turpanjian Family Brings Water to Hadrut, Artskah

In January, Armenia Fund launched construction on a 33-kilometer internal water distribution network for the city of Hadrut–the administrative capital for Artsakh’s Hadrut Region. It’s been six months since we began the project, and we’re excited to report that it’s nearly halfway complete.

The project is funded with the support of Artsakh’s government and through a major contribution from Mr. and Mrs. Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian of Los Angeles. The Turpanjians were also the sponsors of Stepanakert School #11, which we completed in 2010.
Today, construction crews are busily working to ensure we meet our Spring 2013 completion date. In addition to the distribution network, we’re also building water distribution and regulation wells, a pump station and two reservoirs. When the project is complete, the more than 3,200 residents of the city will have round-the-clock access to clean drinking water.

Edik Davtyan, the deputy head of the regional administration explains the situation on the ground, highlighting the urgent need for this project saying, “Currently, the city uses a water network that was built durring the 1970s. The corroded pipes often give out, resulting in several days of service interruption.”

Corroded piping is a very serious health risk that could not only contaminate the city’s water supply but cause many people to become seriously ill, very fast, if we don’t do something about it now.

Located on the southern border of Artsakh, the region of Hadrut is among the republic’s driest and hottest areas. Although the residents of Hadrut City still grapple with a host of other infrastructure and economic issues, we believe that a fundamental solution such as the provision of regular access to potable water will significantly improve their lives.

We began large-scale efforts to modernize Hadrut’s water infrastructure in 2008 after finishing construction on a 22-kilometer water pipeline connecting Arjaghbyur to Hadrut.

Other major projects implemented we’ve implemented in the Hadrut Region include the construction, in 2009, of the 20-kilometer Togh-Hadrut gas pipeline, which supplies natural gas to about 5,200 residents of Hadrut City and seven nearby villages; and the reconstruction, in 2008, of the Hadrut Regional Hospital, which serves the entire population of the region, totaling over 12,000 residents.