Delta Life Nr. 6 September 2016

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32 DELTARES, September 2016
AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijan has more than 9 million inhabitants and more
than half of them live in or around the capital, Baku.
Azerbaijan was able to sustain development for a long
time thanks to proceeds from oil, which account for 81%
of exports.
The country wants to be less dependent on oil in the
future. One option is to encourage agriculture in order to
boost employment and exports, and make the country
more prosperous. But fresh water is needed for agriculture.
Fresh and salt water are close to each other in Azerbaijan:
water-rich mountains supply a number of major rivers with
fresh water. They flow into a large plain with salt
groundwater, a legacy from the times when there
was still a sea here. That has led to the formation of a
freshwater reservoir on top of the salt water.
Rivers like the Kura and Aras take the surplus water from
this reservoir to the sea.
Farmers on the dry salt plain can use the freshwater
reservoir for irrigation. But if they extract more water
than nature supplies, the basin will ultimately turn salt.
Hydrologists from Deltares are determining the effects
of water extraction on the groundwater and helping
to ensure that supplies of fresh water will also be
safeguarded in the future.
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