September 06, 2019
The huge rainstorms of the spring vastly expanded the size of Lake Urumiyeh—but scientists warned that would not last. Monitors on the lake now show the surface of the lake has fallen 50 centimeters (20 inches) in the last three months.
Close to 1.6 billion cubic meters of water evaporated from the lake in the last 90 days, the head of the Base Studies Department of East Azarbaijan Water Company said.
“Due to evaporation, the lake’s water level has fallen by 50 centimeters compared to May when it reached a record high at 1,272 centimeters for the last 10 years,” Aqil Aqdasi was quoted by as saying by the state news agency.
But he said the lake now holds 3.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water or about 1.5 times as much as last year’s 2.5 bcm.
