Azerbaijan, Georgia draft action plan for Kura River Basin protection

Azerbaijan and Georgia drafted a joint action plan for the protection of the Kura River basin and sustainable management of water resources, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijan Ministers Cabinet.

The action plan covers issues such as the exchange of qualitative and quantitative indicators of small rivers connecting to the Kura River and the results of flood and drought risk assessment in the Kura River basin, as well as conducting joint qualitative and quantitative monitoring of the basin's water resources.

It is worth noting that the Kura is an east-flowing river south of the Greater Caucasus Mountains that drains the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus east into the Caspian Sea.

It also drains the north side of the Lesser Caucasus, while its main tributary, the Aras, drains the south side of those mountains. Starting in northeastern Turkiye, it flows through Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea.

The total length of the river is 1,515 kilometres, with about 174 kilometres of the river in Turkey, 435 kilometres in Georgia, and 906 kilometres in Azerbaijan. Its basin covers 198,300 km2. About 56,290 km2 of the catchment is in Azerbaijan.