URMIA, Iran – The Iranian government has approved a plan to counter the critical fall in the levels of Lake Urmia, once one of the world’s largest salt lakes, in northwestern Iran.
Muhammad Bagher Nobakht, a government spokesperson, said an estimated 1.1 trillion tomans (some $400 million) will be allocated to revive the lake, which has recorded its lowest water levels since 1984 due to extreme temperatures and lack of rainfall.
“There are nearly 90 different projects that will be implemented to prevent further drought in the lake,” Nobakht said, adding that another 800 billion tomans (about $280 million) were needed if the projects were to be done more speedily.
Sandwiched between Iran’s Azeri provinces to the north and Kurdish regions to the south, Lake Urmia has long been in critical condition due to hot weather and growing water use by local farmers.
It was the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth largest saltwater lake on earth before drastic ecological transformations in the late 1990s.
Nobakht said the allocated budget would be used mainly for water management and ecological restoration.
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