Vardaqar Reservoir

Vardaqar Reservoir holds irrigation water on the Kaŕkachan River, at 1,600 meters near Vardaqar village in Shirak region. Locals also know it as Hoŕom Reservoir. It opened in 1968 and was rebuilt in 1974.

The basin covers 0.86 square kilometers and averages 15.5 meters deep, holding 5 million cubic meters of water — 4.7 million of it usable. Holding it back is an earthen dam faced with clay loam, 594 meters long and 16.5 meters at its tallest point.

Water leaves through a metal pipeline, while a trench-style intake and spillway carry off floodwater. The reservoir irrigates land around four villages: Lusakert, Saratak, Hovtashen, and Vardaqar itself.

The reservoir sits in Shirak region near Vardaqar village and the town of Gyumri, roughly 74 km northwest of Yerevan as the crow flies.