Chapter 2. State of the Caucasus Environment and Policy Measures: a retrospective from 1972 to 2002

2.5 Coastal and Marine Waters

The water level of the Caspian Sea is currently about 26.5-27 metres below the Baltic Sea level. The level has fluctuated from 6 to 7 metres during the past few centuries and about 13 metres over last 500 years. Historically, the sea accounted more than 90% of world’s sturgeon and caviar output. Additionally, it has abundant oil and gas deposits and they are exploited both on- and off-shore. Major environmental issues related to the Caspian Sea are the impact of water level fluctuation on coastal settlements, decline in sturgeon populations and water pollution from oil and gas operations, industry, households and agriculture.

The water level rose over four metres between 1978-95, causing severe damage to nearby territories, populations and infrastructure. About 807 km² of land was inundated in Azerbaijan. An additional 460 km² will be flooded if the sea level rise to -25 m (State Committee on Ecology and Control of Natural Resources Utilization, Azerbaijan Republic, 1998).

The sea level rise has resulted in significant economic, health and environmental damage to Azerbaijan and Dagestan. Communities in affected areas have suffered from increased humidity and dampness; drinking water quality has deteriorated due the salt water intrusion; communications infrastructure has been significantly damaged; flooded agricultural lands and damage to sturgeon hatcheries and fish processing industries have deepened unemployment and poverty. The rising sea has also caused the secondary pollution of marine water from oil fields either through direct flooding or water table rise and ground water seepage.

While in recent years the sea level has slightly declined, it is forecast to continue rising over the next two decades. The reasons for sea level fluctuations are not well understood. Presumably both natural and anthropogenic factors affect it. Change in water cycle and climate within the watershed have a high impact on the sea level. At the same time, non-sustainable agricultural practices, especially on the river Volga, and human-induced change in water regime contribute greatly to the sea level rise too.

In the past, about 11.4 billion cubic metres of waste-water were discharged annually into the Caspian Sea (State Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic on Nature Protection, 1993). Among the rivers of the Caspian Sea basin, the Volga River’s share of total pollution was and still stays more than 80%. Currently, about 2.5 billion m³ of raw sewage and 7 billion m³ treated sewage is discharged into the river annually (Ministry of Environment and nature Resources Protection, Russian Federation, 1996). The Kura and Araks rivers are also historical polluters of the Caspian Sea, discharging about 522 million cubic metres annually during Soviet era, from which about 497 came from Georgia and Armenia (State Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic on Nature Protection, 1993).

At present, seawater oil pollution remains a major concern for the Caspian Sea, as it was in the past decades. Among coastal waters, waters off Absheron peninsula, where intensive oil operations are conducted and Sumgayit with concentration of petroleum, petrochemical and chemical industries were and still are the most affected. A recent baseline study of the total oil in sediments off Absheron peninsula in and around the Chirag field revealed that in the area of the oil field (contact area) the level was 19-3,860 mg/kg, near the shore sediments in Baku Bay were 270-2,100 mg/kg. One station just south of Oily Rocks showed 5,800 mg/kg. Sediment concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons were analysed at ten stations 60-80 km off Absheron Peninsula. Levels of 4.7 to 128.5 mg/kg were recorded. An analysis of the individual hydrocarbons of the samples indicated contamination with heavily degraded crude oil, which is also seen in natural seeps (TACIS, 2000). The levels of mercury and phenols are high too, amounting to over 0.2-1.0 and 5.0-140 g/kg of sediment in Baku Bay respectively. Concentrations of oil products and phenols are also high in water column, exceeding the standards 10-30 times (State Committee on Ecology and Control of Natural Resources Utilization, Azerbaijan, 1998). The sediment concentration off Kura River is reported to contain 500-1,500 mg/kg even though it is far from any offshore installations. Also, at the Lenkoran coastal zone the level of petroleum hydrocarbons in sediment reach 200-1,500 mg/kg. As comparison the level of petroleum hydrocarbons in the Baltic Sea reached 4,100 mg/kg, and in one case close to an oil refinery 16,000 mg/kg.

In general, environmental impacts of water oil pollution are related to the loss of benthic fauna, and fish populations, using benthos as a food. In the case of the Caspian Sea, the open water surface and eastern coast of the northern Caspian Sea is polluted, and the benthic communities have lost their stability and are in a transition state. The Dagestan coast is heavily polluted. Azerbaijan coast from Russian border to Sumgayit is polluted, and the benthic fauna varies between a stable and a transition state. The Absheron peninsula, the Baku Bay and the Sumgayit coast are extremely polluted, and the state of the benthic fauna communities ranges from a transition to a critical to a disastrous situation. The open waters of the whole Caspian Sea are heavily polluted. The fish fauna has decreased in the strongly polluted areas in Baku Bay, Sumgayit Coast and Neftyanye Kamny and they are considered "dead zones" mainly due to oil pollution. However, the very same area contains a long series of industries that discharge or did discharge numerous other contaminants into that coastal area. The disappearance of the zander in the southern part of the Caspian nevertheless, is directly related to oil pollution. The disastrous situation of the Caspian herring (shad) stocks is also the result of oil pollution. The migration routes of sturgeons have been affected by oil pollution in Azerbaijani territorial water. Earlier the sturgeons moved from the southern part of the Caspian to its middle part and back along the western and eastern coasts. Now they come across a barrier of highly polluted water near the Absheron Peninsula and have to migrate particularly along the eastern coast. The grey mullet stocks have been reduced, too, and a great number of crawfish have disappeared (TACIS, 2000).

Overall, intensive anthropogenic pressures, such as: industrial and municipal waste-water discharges and developments of large-scale hydro schemes have detrimental impacts on natural ecosystems of the Caspian Sea. A sharp decrease in the diversity of the benthic fauna of the Caspian Sea has been reported. In the northern part the diversity has decreased from 78 to 46 species, and in the southern and central part the number of species has decreased by one third. In Baku Bay and off Sumgayit crustaceans and some species of mollusks have drastically declined. Bulk stocks of commercial fish species have significantly reduced in last decades. The sturgeon population has suffered especially. Twenty years ago, about 20-25,000 tons of sturgeons were harvested in the Caspian Sea annually. Over the last 20 years, the total catch has decreased by 90% and in the last three years by factor three. In 1998, for example only 1,465 tons were harvested (IUCN, 2000).

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