Climatic changes in Lake Urumiye, located in Iran's West Azerbaijan Province, excessive water use and occasional drought due to the road and bridge built on the lake, bring about discussions that the salt in the lake may be carried to the entire region by winds.
While the focus of these discussions is on agricultural lands in other cities close to Lake Urumiye, the fact that the lake is close to the Turkish border raises concerns that the transported salts may also affect agricultural lands in eastern Turkey.
Muhammed Derviş, one of Iran's leading environmental activists and who was the Head of the Strategic Research Center Environment Department during the reign of former President Hassan Rouhani, said in his statement to AA correspondent, "The climatic changes of Lake Urumiye do not affect Turkey negatively because the prevailing winds blow from west to east. In other words, the side where the East Azerbaijan provinces are located, the parts from Ardabil to Zanjan are affected." he said.
Drought in Lake Urumiye may trigger migration
Derviş said that the most important consequence of the drought danger in Lake Urumiye is that salt dust may spread to Shebisten, Maragha, Bonab and Zanjan in East Azerbaijan province, which may trigger migration in the region and may even reduce the air quality of the city of Tabriz and increase the cost of treatment by increasing diseases.
Stating that Urumiye Lake needs to have 12 billion cubic meters of water to reach its normal level, Derviş emphasized that there are currently 4 billion cubic meters of water in the lake and this is the best level in the last decade.
Derviş stated that the region has received good rainfall in the last few years and if it continues like this, Lake Urumiye may approach its normal level for the first time in twenty years.
Evaluating the excessive use of water around the lake and the construction of many dams on fourteen rivers flowing into the lake as the most important factors in the drying of the lake, Derviş said, "Unless we offer alternative livelihoods to farmers, the possibility of the lake maintaining its endurance in a normal year is very low." he said.
Twenty-eight solution suggestions for Lake Urumiye
Derviş also made evaluations about the Martyr Kelanateri Bridge, built during the reign of former President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, in the middle of Lake Urumiye, which caused intense debate in Iran and was stated to have an important role in the drying of the lake, and said, "Unfortunately, since the bridge did not comply with the necessary standards, it stopped the flow of lake water from north to south and increased sedimentation. The bridge is considered one of the factors that accelerated the drying of Lake Urumiye." he said.
Stating that 28 solutions were proposed to save Lake Urumiye, Derviş said, "Among these plans was to reduce the cultivation of agricultural products, but this was not implemented due to the pressure of the MPs, and instead, the plan to grow some species that are environmentally friendly and consume less water was brought to the agenda, but this did not happen either. The water rights of the dams were supposed to be released for Lake Urumiye, and that did not happen." he said.
Derviş emphasized that an attempt was made to transfer 600 million cubic meters of water from the Zap River to Lake Urumiye, but the farmers in the region did not allow the water to reach the lake, and therefore most of the projects to revitalize Lake Urumiye failed.
“If there had not been a rainy period last year and this year, Lake Urumiye would have been lost forever.” Derviş said, pointing out that the death of the lake was postponed for a while with the recent rains.
Derviş stated that 3-4 billion cubic meters of water should be given to Urumiye Lake after the drinking water need in the region is met, and added that only in this way can Urumiye Lake be revitalized.
