Relationships of organizations are important in this week as Laura seeks to obtain approval of changes to assist farmers in Armenia. The organizational chart provides that once Laura’s work with Armenian’s attorneys in completed and implementation legislation is ready for government adoption, it must be approved first by Armenia’s Governing Council of the Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia (GC).

Friday’s highlights at the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) office included confirmation that the contractor developing the agricultural policy and legislation, AVAG Solutions, would indeed complete a further draft of its interim strategy in time for consideration by the GC at its meeting scheduled for next Friday, September 8, 2010.

The GC is chaired by the Republic of Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. It’s Chief Executive Officer is Laura’s in-country MCA contact, Ara Hovhannisyan who is head of the MCA. The GC’s scheduled meeting on September 10th will consider AVAG’s proposed agricultural water strategy document and the implementing legislation that Laura has been working on during this summer’s trips to Armenia for the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Alex Russin, MCC’s resident country director in Armenia, met with Laura Schroeder on Wednesday providing a status of he Armenian government’s adoption of agricultural policy and legislation.

Later, Laura met with Arusyak Alaverdyan, the World Bank Rural/Irrigation Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Unit for the Europe and Central Asia Region, to discuss the possible development of irrigation federations in Armenia. Ms Alaverdyan and the World Bank had previously been instrumental in developing Water User Associations in Armenia.

Approximately 27 hours after leaving the River House in Portland , Laura Schroeder arrived in Yerevan, Armenia. Armenia is in the Causus Mountain range with a continental climate much like that of eastern Oregon, southern Idaho and northern Nevada. Similarly, the climate dictates that water is THE issue when it comes to meeting the Millennium Challenge goal related to food security in this country.

A Millennium Challenge-Armenia sponsored study tour will begin in San Francisco, California on August 12, 2010 with a delegation of 19 individuals who have various roles in the Armenian irrigation sector.  California was the likely choice for this tour since the largest population of American Armenian Diaspora is located in the Los Angeles, California area where the tour will end.

The irrigable land in Armenia is 420,000 hectares (1,037,842 acres); however only a third of the irrigable area is cultivated (300-305k hectares or 741,300 acres) as a result of small plots that were designed following Armenia’s independence from Russia which utilized large collective farms.

One of the first sites that the tour will view on August 13, 2010 is the San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority which totals 2,100,000 acres or 849,839.8 hectares. This Authority manages water over twice the total irrigable acres in Armenia. Two member districts of SLDMWA will be visited by the Armenia irrigation sector tour delegation on Friday afternoon including the Firebaugh Canal Water District, which has made news for its water transfers to larger districts, as well as the San Luis Canal Company.

On August 13 the Armenian irrigation tour delegation will visit the Merced Irrigation District. MID’s irrigable acres includes approximately 164,314 acres or 66,495 hectares. Thus, MID provides irrigation service to approximately an area equal to 6% of the total irrigable acreage in Armenia. MID engages in a variety of activities in addition to irrigation such as producing hydro power. Unfortunately, profit making activities such as the production of hydro power are not legally possible for Armenian irrigation districts, called Water User Associations (“WUA”).   Armenia is currently divided into 44 WUAs.

The next day, the Armenian irrigation tour group will tour Friant Dam. The Friant Dam is owned by power concerns and the water stored provides irrigation to over a million acres in San Joaquin Valley. Thus, Friant provides water service to approximately 404685 Hectares which is equivalent to 96.4% of the entire irrigable acreage of Armenia. Similarly the Pine Flat Dam is owned by power concerns with a secondary use for irrigation by such entities as the Fresno Irrigation District.  The Fresno Irrigation District comprises 245,000 acres which is equivalent to 26.4% of the entire irrigable area of Armenia.

Following visits to various filtration system and water infrastructure supply companies on Monday, August 16, 2010, the Armenian irrigation delegation will tour the Alta Irrigation District that services approximately 111,000 cropped acres or approximately 44,920 hectares. This acreage is equivalent to approximately 10.7% of the total irrigated acres in Armenia. Alta’s water supply is provided from the Pine Flat Dam via the Kings River.

On Tuesday, August 17, the Armenian irrigation tour will visit the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District. (KDWCD) KDWCD and the Tulare Irrigation District (TID) formed a joint-power authority in 1982 – the Kaweah River Power Authority (KRPA). The KRPA filed for a license to construct a 17MW hydroelectric plant at Terminus Dam and Lake Kaweah. KRPA proceeded with design and construction of the plant, and the plant went on-line in 1992 delivering power to Southern California Edison Company.  TID delivers water to approximately 70,000 acres or 31,160 hectares equivalent to 6.7% of the total irrigable area of Armenia.

Completing Tuesday’s tour, the Armenian irrigation tour will visit the Friant Waterusers Authority otherwise known as the Friant Division of the Central Valley Project (CVP).  The Friant Division provides water to more that a million irrigated acres (404,685 hectares) equivalent to 96.35% of the total irrigable acres of Armenia.

The tour will end on August 19th after visits to gates, drip equipment, the California Training Facilities at California State Poytechnic University at San Luis Obispo and a water management demonstration site.

Laura Schroeder left the USA on Thursday, July 22, 2010 arriving in Yerevan, Armenia over 24 hours later. Her mission is to review the priorities for the development of agricultural policy legislation to meet the priority goal of the Millennium Challenge: to end poverty and hunger.

The United States worked with the Republic of Armenia to decide that the best ways to achieve this goal was to improve agricultural production and markets. A necessary component of increasing agricultural production in Armenia is to improve irrigation systems and management. In 2009, Laura assisted in the drafting of the agricultural policy which was adopted by the RA. Her mission for 2010 is to assist in the drafting of legislation related to the 5 identified priorities of the agricultural policy.

Laura began her work on Monday, July 26, 2010 to participate in the tour of MCC accomplishments with the Prime Minister of Armenia, Tigran Sargsyan, and the US Ambassador to Armenia, Marie L. Yovanovitch.

The tour included (1) A visit to the community of Merdzavan to see the lower Hrazdan main canal that was rehabilitated by funds from MCA-Armenia;
(2) A visit to the community of Artimet to see the rehabilitation of third level (near farm) ditches also rehabilitated by funds from MCA-Armenia;
(3) A visit to the community of Gridoedov to see the irrigation/agricultural development site funded by MCA-Armenia. This farm is owned by Sevan Jamalyan; and
(4) Finally a visit to a water user association,  Vagharshapat, whose director is Surik Sedrakyan.

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Laura is meeting with government officials from the Public Services Regulatory Commission to discuss the legislation.

In addition, she has already met with contractors assisting the implementation including AVAG Solutions, Ltd, and VISTAA.

The first goal of the Millennium Challenge adopted by United Nations declaration in 2000 is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml

The three targets for this goal are: (1) halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day; (2) achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people; and (3) halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

In Armenia this goal has translated into improving agricultural food production which in Armenia requires improved irrigation facilities and methods.

Laura Schroeder’s July-August 2010 mission is to work with the Millennium Challenge group and its contractor to draft legislation that will adopt and promote the goals of agricultural water policy to achieve improved use of land and water resources in Armenia for food production.

Armenia’s current water code requires a water system use permit (WSUP) without exception for any system of facilities. The WSUP is issued by the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC). It has been suggested municipalities and small community water associations that own and operate their own domestic water delivery system should be exempt from the requirement for a WSUP. The major reason for the exemption would be to prevent dual regulation, ie regulation by the locals and also by the state through the PSRC. In addition, where access to the local person operating the water system can be made by “visiting with the neighbor across the street”, consumer and often times operator are one and the same. In such circumstances over arching state regulation is not required.

Since the PSRC has not enforced the WSUP requirement against the locals, the need for changes in the present water code may be overlooked at present. The real reason in fact may be that very few local delivery schemes exist (except rurally). Armenia’s urban population receives water services by conveying their water facilities to the State in return for a 49% in a joint stock company controlled by the State which owns a 51% share. The stock company then contracts with a third party operator for water services.

These Company-Operator contracts are “issues of public importance.” As such, the Prime Minister of Armenia appoints a Commission to develop and approve these contracts. Since the Yerevan Jur contract is up for tender in October 2008, it is expected that a Commission will be appointed soon. This Commission may well set the stage for the four other water companies who exist in Armenia who will also need new tenders in the near future. This process of developing the new contract for Yerevan Jur may well set the stage to move further into water sector privatization or not.

Our work in Armenia involves reviewing contracts between the State and a couple of the largest water purveying companies in the world, Veolia and Suez, which are headquartered in France.

Interestingly, we have found that these French companies, through their subsidiaries Veolia Water North America and United Water, also have contracts in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Examples include Operation and Maintenance contracts between Veolia and the cities of Wilsonville, OR and Vancouver, WA, and contracts between United Water and Boise, ID.

Links to these companies can be found at www.veoliawaterna.com and www.unitedwater.com.