Caspian Sea Level Falls Threaten Azerbaijan Ports, Wildlife

Rapid declines in the Caspian Sea's water level are causing significant environmental and economic challenges for Azerbaijan and the broader Caspian region. Azerbaijan's Deputy Ecology Minister Rauf Hajiyev reported that the sea has fallen nearly one meter in the past five years and 2.5 meters over the last 30 years, with an accelerating annual drop of 20-30 centimeters. This retreat is disrupting economic activity, complicating port operations in Baku, reducing cargo capacity, and raising logistics costs, while also threatening the habitats of sturgeon and Caspian seals, with potential catastrophic losses to their breeding grounds. Azerbaijan partly attributes the water level decline to Russian dam construction on the Volga River, which supplies 80% of the Caspian's water, while Russia primarily cites climate change. Despite strained relations, Azerbaijan and Russia have formed a joint working group that plans to approve a monitoring and response program to address the issue. About 4 million people live on Azerbaijan's Caspian coast, and approximately 15 million reside in the wider Caspian region, making the crisis a significant concern for both ecological sustainability and regional economies.