TEHRAN – The restoration of Lake Urmia is unlikely in the current conditions, Hessam Ahmadi Birgani, an environmental professor at Urmia University, has said.

Currently, the condition of Lake Urmia is better than three to four years ago in its worst condition, as its level has improved by about 30 percent compared to those years, he noted.

Due to the low amount of rainfall and the change of temperature, the water behind the dams and the continuation of unsustainable agricultural development, the restoration of Lake Urmia is not possible, unless the dams are released to the lake over the next 30 years and water covers the lake and changes the agricultural pattern, he explained.

If the lake is restored, it will not reach the ecological level it had 40 years ago, as it lost about 20 to 25 billion cubic meters of water, and retains 600 to 700 million cubic meters of water, he said.

When water is lost, sand and salt flats increase, and at the same time, many organisms living in the lake are lost, and migratory birds no longer come to this area, so the marine ecosystem is destroyed.

The loss of this lake will cause salinization of the surrounding wells and other underground water sources, which have already started, and salinity will spread to agricultural lands. The vegetation of the area will also be depleted and dried.

In addition to the destruction of this ecosystem, sand and dust storms will also affect the area, he concluded.

7 years of conservation

Lake Urmia started to dry up in the 2000s, and although it revived at some point over the past few years, it is in serious danger these days.

Lake Urmia, located in northwest Iran, is the largest lake in West Asia and the sixth-largest Salt Lake in the world with a water surface area of 5,000 to 6,000 km2. The lake is designated for the List of Wetlands of International Importance, Ramsar Site, as well as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, which is a protected area with the aim of conserving nature and culture in the region and community development.

However, the water in the lake has been decreasing during the past years. The water surface area shrank by approximately 80 percent of its (once-large) original size at the end of the dry season in 2013 and by approximately 70 percent at the end of the rainy season of the same year.

Restoration measures caused the level of Lake Urmia to reach 1278 meters in 1995 and 1274 meters in 2005 and finally, it stood at 1270 meters in 2015.

After 7 years and spending about $4 billion, the condition of Lake Urmia was returned to its first point, Somayeh Rafiei, member of the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) said.

Based on the studies and according to the statement of the Lake Urmia Restoration Program, 18 percent of the drying was due to climate change and 82 percent was due to the mismanagement of water resources in the catchment area, she lamented.

The water level of Lake Urmia was supposed to reach 1274.1 by 2028. Currently, the last level of the Lake on July 10th was estimated at 1270.57, which means that it is only 53 cm higher than the minimum level of November 2015, she explained.

According to experts' forecasts, evaporation will continue in Lake Urmia until the end of September, and the water level will reach the level of the first day of the Lake Urmia restoration project, and the south of the lake will be completely dry, she lamented.

FB/MG