Armenian Water Atlas

🇦🇲 Armenian Water Atlas

Every Drop, Mapped

Initializing map…

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〜 River Style

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Color Palette

Min Strahler Order 1

Hide small tributaries (higher = only major rivers)

💧 Data & Water Facts

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Map Data

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River segments

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Network km

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Lakes & reservoirs

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Lake area km²

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Springs mapped

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Named waterfalls

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Pulpulak 🚰

Major hydro plants

National Water Resources

9,480

Total river km

379

Rivers >10 km

~36

Surface water km³

~7.8

Annual renewable km³

~6.7

Annual runoff km³

800+

Mineral springs

~9.9

Total freshwater km³/yr

~0.023%

% of world's freshwater

Engineering Highlights

🚇 Arpa-Sevan Tunnel (48 km, completed 1981) — diverts water from the Arpa River under the Vardenyats mountain range into Lake Sevan. Built to compensate for Sevan's level drop caused by Soviet-era hydropower withdrawals. Delivers up to ~200 million m³/year to restore lake levels.

⚡ Sevan-Hrazdan Cascade — 7 hydroelectric plants descend 1,000 m from Lake Sevan to Yerevan along the Hrazdan River. Combined capacity: ~560 MW. Generates ~30–35% of Armenia's electricity.

🌊 Vorotan Hydropower Complex (Syunik province) — 3 underground power plants (Spandaryan, Shamb, Tatev) on the Vorotan River. The Spandaryan reservoir holds 260 million m³. Combined capacity: ~404 MW.

🏗 Kechut Reservoir — collects water on the Arpa River for the tunnel. Sits at 1,940 m elevation in Vayots Dzor province. Part of the Sevan replenishment system.

Major Rivers

Araks1,072 km total · forms S border

Hrazdan141 km · Sevan → Araks

Debed178 km · north → Georgia

Vorotan178 km · Syunik south

Kasakh89 km · Aragats foothills

Agstev133 km · northeast

Arpa126 km · Vayots Dzor

Pambak (Debed tributary)101 km · Lori

Notable Waterfalls 💜

🏔 Most rivers originate in the Armenian Highland at 2,000–3,000 m. Snowmelt drives peak flows in April–June. The Araks basin covers ~22,600 km² within Armenia.

💜 Waterfalls are seasonal — most impressive in April–May during snowmelt. Jermuk (68 m) is the tallest; Trchkan (23 m) is the most powerful. Most dry to a trickle by August.

🌿 Jermuk mineral water springs at 57–64°C. Armenia's mineral water is bottled and exported globally — over 40 licensed mineral water brands. The Dilijan area alone has 130+ springs.

❄️ 20 small glaciers remain on Mt. Aragats (4,090 m) and in the Geghama range. All are retreating — total glacial area has shrunk ~30% since 1960 due to climate warming.

🚰 Pulpulak (Պուլպուլակ) — Armenia's iconic public spring fountains, fed by natural groundwater. Found on nearly every street corner in Yerevan and in every village. The word means "to bubble up" in Armenian.

⚠ Sevan Crisis: Soviet hydropower withdrawals (1930s–1990s) dropped Sevan's level by ~20 m, shrinking its area by 12.7%. Since recovery programs and the Arpa-Sevan tunnel, the level has risen ~4 m.

Armenian Water Atlas

Public Geographic Data

River Order

Order 1–2 (tributaries)

Order 3–4 (streams)

Order 5+ (major rivers)

Made with ❤️ by Rem Darbinyan