Sevan Island, Armenia 1970s

Lake Sevan is the largest body of water in Armenia and the Caucasus region. In this 1975 picture one can see the promontory where is the medieval monastery of Sevanavank: it is called “Sevan Island” because in origin this was actually an island. It became a promontory when the Soviet administration decided to artificially lower the water level by 45 meters to reduce evaporation, in order to use the lake as a reservoir for the production of hydroelectric power. In 1933 began the excavation of a drainage tunnel, which was completed in 1949. In the early 50’s the water level had already dropped by nearly 20 meters , the surface of the lake was reduced from 1,360 km² (5 % of the entire area of Armenia) to 1250 km². After Stalin’s death the gigantic plan was called into question due to its ecological and economic consenquences, and a new project began to restore the water level. In 2012 it still was about 16 meters under the original level. Nowaday Sevan is a main resource for Armenian economy, providing low–cost electricity, irrigation water, tourism and recreation.