TEHRAN –Finland's ambassador to Iran, Kari Kahiluoto, has announced his country’s readiness to cooperate in the restoration of Lake Urmia.

Lake Urmia in the northwestern West Azarbaijan province started to dry up in the 2000s. The lake 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 square kilometers.

Kahiluoto made the remarks on the sidelines of his visit to Lake Urmia; he added Finland is ready to collaborate in managing water resources, ISNA reported.

He went on to say that Finland is willing to expand its long-term cooperation with Iran in the fields of water, energy, and waste management.

He raised these issues in a meeting with Mohammad-Sadeq Motamedian, the governor-general of West Azarbaijan province and the secretary of the national working group for Lake Urmia restoration.

“Finland is a pioneer in environmental protection with advanced activities in the field of industries and water resources management globally,” he added.

Lake Urmia revival plan

As the first project to revive the Lake, the construction of a tunnel with a length of 36 kilometers to transfer water from the Dam to the Lake started in 2015, IRNA reported.

Some 35 trillion rials (about $70 million) have been spent on the project.

In the first phase, 300 million cubic meters of water are projected to enter Lake Urmia every year.

The second phase is going to come on stream in the current Iranian calendar year, ending March 2024, increasing the volume of water to 600 million cubic meters.

The wastewater treatment plant of the city of Urmia, as the second project aimed at reviving Lake Urmia, will come on stream in the near future.

Once the project is inaugurated, 51 million cubic meters of treated wastewater will be transferred to Lake Urmia, Motamedian said, IRIB reported.

This important project started in the calendar year 1394 (March 2015-March 2016) but stopped in the year 1399 (March 2020-March 2021) due to financial problems, he explained.

Some 5 trillion rials (about $10 million) have been recently earmarked for speeding up the implementation of the Lake Urmia revival plan.

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.

Claudio Providas, the UNDP resident representative in Iran, has said that sanctions have had no effect on providing financial support to protect Iran's wetlands and revive Lake Urmia, in particular.

Research and academic studies are being carried out on transferring water from Lake Van in Turkey to help revive Lake Urmia which has been drying up in recent years, MP Mohammad-Reza Mirtajeddini has said.

"Four universities have conducted scientific studies and research to transfer water from Lake Van to Lake Urmia which are 160 kilometers away from each other,” Mirtajeddini pointed out.

MT/MG