The basin is the largest in the Middle East and one of the largest in the world. A decade of frenzied water exploitation has reduced it by 80% , putting at risk the local nature and survival of five million people who may be forced to leave the area, if the lake dies.

Tehran (AsiaNews) - Keeping a promise made during the election campaign, the new Iranian government led by President Rouhani has decided to save Lake Urmia, endangered by a decade of exploitation and new dams planned by his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Cabinet announced the measure after a long technical meeting: by May, thanks to the help of foreign scientists and engineers (including some Japanese) a plan to restore the lake to its former glory will be put in place.

Isa Kalantari , an expert appointed by the President to lead the new international team, explained: " Rouhani stands by his campaign promise to revive the lake. "Don't blame nature and drought. Human beings, not climate change, are responsible for this situation. We dried up the lake because of our excessive demands and wrong methods. Now we have to revive it ourselves. Five million people have to leave this region if the lake dies".

Lake Urmia is a salt lake that lies between the Iranian regions of eastern Azarbaijan and West Azarbaijan, west of the Caspian Sea. For thousands of years it has been the greatest of Iran's inland lakes of, with a surface area of ​​approximately 5,200 square kilometers.  In the last decade, according to Japanese studies, has shrunk up to about 1000 square kilometers.

The lake is named after the city of Urmia, which in Syriac meant "City of Water" , and is dotted with more than one hundred small, rocky islands, home to different species of migratory birds (flamingos, pelicans, Eurasian spoonbill, ibises, storks, shelducks, avocets, black winged stilts, gulls) . Shahi island houses the tomb of Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan and the conqueror of Baghdad. The high salinity prevents fish from living in the lake, and most of the lake is a national park. About 5 million people live thanks to the local tourism (the waters of the lake are considered curative) and agriculture, water.

Nader Hazrati and his son, Ali, grow grapes and almonds in the village of Govarchinghaleh, near the lake. "A decade ago, this was a green area. Now it is not because of decrease in rainfall. With the level of water in the lake going down, water in wells has gone down too. If we dig deeper, the water gets very salty and isn't fit even for agricultural use. Our grape and almond harvest has fallen dramatically". 

 

• iran
• lake
• urmia
• salt
• water
• exploitation
• enviornemnt
• rouhani