Revival of Iran’s Lake Oroumiyeh Needs at Least 10 Years: Minister
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iran's Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian said the process of resuscitating the endangered Lake Oroumiyeh in northwest of the country would take as long as 10 years.
“The shortest time needed to revive the lake is a 10-year period,” Chitchian told an open session of the Iranian parliament on Tuesday.
He said “intensive measures” are planned to be taken in that period to raise the water level of the lake.
Successive droughts, reduced rainfalls, a rise in the region’s temperature and consequent increased evaporation as well as rising water consumption have all caused Lake Oroumiyeh to shrink, the minister explained.
Chitchian said his ministry has invited Iranian academic centers and international experts from Japan, Germany and Russia to assess the lake’s situation and offer suggestions for the proper activities.
As Lake Oroumiyeh is shrinking and deserts of salt expanding, Iranian officials are trying to find ways to avert an imminent disaster and to stop the salt lake from drying up.
One of the largest salt lakes in the world and classified as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, Lake Oroumiyeh has lost more than 60 percent of its surface over the last two decades due to drought and the damming of rivers feeding it.
The disappearance of the lake could leave behind billions of tons of salt which in turn displace millions of people and endanger the ecosystem of all surrounding areas, whose economy relies on agriculture and tourism.
