September 20-2013
Masumeh Ebtekar, who has returned as head of he Environmental Protection Agency eight years after leaving that post, has said that reviving Lake Urumiyeh is a top priority for her. She said she actually started a program to revive the lake 11 years ago in 2002, but charged that it was suspended by President Ahmadi-nejad shortly after he took office in 2005. The president claimed to have launched a huge project to divert water from the Aras River to the lake just before he left office. But Ebtekar said nothing about that. Rather Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said a few weeks ago that a working group has been named and is now reviewing 30 proposals for addressing the problems of the lake.
