November 22-2013
A new calculation shows Lake Urumiyeh in far worse shape than previously believed. An environmental study concludes that all but 15 percent of Iran’s largest inland lake has dried up.
Hassan Abbas-nejad, the head of the Western Azerbaijan Province Department of the Environment, told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Sunday: “Only six percent of the southern part of the lake currently remains and in total 85 percent of the lake area has been lost.”
That calculation is understood to be based on the volume of water left in the lake and not the surface area, which still remains fairly large.
Abbas-nejad said the lake’s drying up has multiple consequences, including an increase in cancer and respiratory diseases. He added that agricultural development in the region is no longer feasible given the damage caused to the lake.
Many experts have pointed to agricultural development and dam building as the main causes of Lake Urumiyeh’s rapid shrinking in recent years.
Just before President Ahmadi-nejad’s term expired, he unveiled what he said was a grand construction project to divert water from the Aras River, which separates Iran from Azerbaijan and Armenia, to Lake Urumiyeh.
But that appears to have been more show than reality as the Rohani Administration says it has launched an effort to review possible solutions.
