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Wrong agro policies should be blamed for Lake Urmia drying up

26 November 2015 16:04 (UTC+04:00)
Wrong agro policies should be blamed for Lake Urmia drying up

By Sara Rajabova

An official blamed wrong agricultural policies, as well as traditional irrigation methods for Lake Urmia’s shoaling.

Deputy Head of Iranian Department of Environment, Esmail Kahrom told Trend that an enormous number of dams for agricultural purposes were constructed in West Azerbaijan Province across the rivers flowing into Lake Urmia, which eventually led to the loss of the lake.

Lake Urmia, the biggest inland Iranian lake, has shrunk in the past decades and is facing a critical situation. If the lake dries out completely, serious environmental hazards will threaten the lives of people in the area.

Lake Urmia is the third largest saltwater lake on earth, with a surface area of 6,000 square kilometers. The lake becomes a temporary home for birds during their migratory periods. Over 70 percent of Lake Urmia's water has dried up. The level of water has been declining since 1995.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has earlier set up a working group for saving Lake Urmia.

The committee prepared a nine-year plan to restore the lake, with 2023 being the year targeted for the lake's complete restoration.

However, many Iranian environmental activists accuse President Rouhani for failure to fulfill his campaign promises to save the lake.

Given the climate change and the current level of water consumption, Kahrom anticipated the country will lose many rivers and lakes in the near future.

He added that if Iran manages to use modernized irrigation methods, saving lakes, ponds and rivers will be possible.

Kahrom noted that currently the level of ground water resources is reducing in Iran and the only way to save lakes and rivers is applying modern irrigation methods, such as drip irrigation and sprinkler systems.

Low precipitation and an unbridled usage of surface and underground waters have run Iran into a serious water crisis.

Lake Urmia’s drought has already had an impact on the fauna and flora of the region. Environmental experts warned that the measures taken by the Iranian government are merely not enough to save the lake.

The volume of water input to Lake Urmia has decreased by 100 percent in the past two decades, according to Iranian officials.

The volume of water stood at over five billion cubic meters until 1991. It then started falling and decreased to 2.5 billion cubic meters over two decades.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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