Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

If Lake Urmia dries, sand and salt storms will be observed on a quarter of Iran's territory, Managing Director of the Iranian National Institute for Oceanography Vahid Chegini has said, Trend reported referring to IRNA news agency.

According to Chegini, in this case an environmental disaster would occur in the provinces of Mazandaran, Gilan, Zanjan, East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Tehran, Qazvin and others.

Chegini noted that drought plays a major role in the shoaling of Lake Urmia.

According to him, the Iranian environment agency and the executive bodies of the surrounding provinces are making an effort to avert this threat. "We hope that the planned work will solve the problem with the shoaling of Lake Urmia," he said.

As lake levels decline, the exposed lakebed is left with a covering of salts, primarily sodium chloride, making a great salty desert on much of the 400 sq.km of lost surface area. These salt flats will not support agriculture and inhibit growth of most natural vegetation. The salts are also susceptible to blowing and will likely create "salt-storms" like the ones that have resulted from the drying of the Aral Sea.

According to recent reports, 50 villages are completely abandoned and empty due to the drying of Lake Urmia, Iranian parliament member Nadir Gazipour has said, the saveurmia.com website reported.

The MP said that due to the drying of the lake, the surrounding areas have become unsuitable for living.

"People have been obliged to leave 50 villages. If Lake Urmia dries up completely, there will be salt storms in the country. Billions of dollars are required to revive the lake," he said.

According to official figures, around 70 percent of Lake Urmia has become shallow. Currently, a liter of lake water contains up to 400 grams of salt, compared to the previous 160-170 grams.

The area of Lake Urmia is about 6,000 square kilometers. The lake's drying up has an impact on the flora and fauna of the region.

Illegal use of water flowing into the lake for watering by the rural population and construction of dams and illegal facilities on its banks are also among the problems related to the lake.

Head of the Iranian West Azerbaijan Province's Environment Organization Hassan Abbasnejad said in December that Lake Urmia needs 3.1 billion cubic meters of water per year to survive.

The Iranian government approved a $900 million finance bill to save the lake from drought, but the process is being carried out slowly.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has allocated $135 million to Iran to resolve its environmental problems with shoaling at Lake Urmia. The Iranian government allocated $900 million for this purpose in September 2011.

A project to direct 600 million cubic meters of water from the River Araz into Lake Urmia was launched during a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and members of the government to Tabriz in 2010. Some $1.2 billion are planned to be allocated to implement this project.

In November it was reported that Iran could benefit from Azerbaijan's assistance in saving its drying Lake Urmia. Azerbaijani Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Huseyn Bagirov said that if Iran wants to use water from the Araz River to fill the drought-stricken Lake Urmia, it must coordinate this issue with Azerbaijan.

However, chairman of the State Committee of Land and Cartography Garib Mammadov believes that the use of Araz River waters to fill the shrinking Lake Urmia in Iran would have a negative impact on the environment in Azerbaijan.

He said changing the course of the Araz River cannot be a topic for discussion. "It will negatively affect the areas along the river both from an environmental and agricultural point of view," Mammadov said.

He noted that Azerbaijan's water reserves are scarce, therefore, a complete change of the water course or reduction would significantly affect the regions located along the river.