Iran, FAO Sign Agreement to Save Lake Oroumiyeh

At the ceremony held at Sharif University of Technology on Tuesday, Mr. Serge Nakouzi, the FAO Representative to the Islamic Republic of Iran and to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), and Dr. Issa Kalantari, Adviser to the Iranian President on Water, Agriculture and Environment, who is also the Secretary of Urmia Lake Restoration Commission (ULRC) signed the agreement in the presence of Japan's ambassador to Iran, Hiroyasu Kobayashi. 

“The project will accelerate halting and inverting the lake’s drying-up process by targeting reduction of water consumption within the Urmia Lake basin” the FAO Representative said.

Mr. Nakouzi underscored that through the implementation of the program, the concerned stakeholders will be empowered with tools and methodologies to monitor water consumption, agricultural water productivity and drought.

The joint FAO – ULRC program, entitled “the Integrated Program for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Lake Urmia Basin”, also comprises a socio-economic component that seeks to promote sustainable alternative income-generating solutions.

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.

Following an official communication from the ULRC to the FAO Representation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, expressing concerns on the  and requesting the organization’s assistance in finding possible solutions to the problem, a multidisciplinary mission was formed in February 2015.

A rapid assessment on the status and prospects of the Lake was conducted by a team of FAO experts within the framework of the FAO Regional Initiative on Water Scarcity, as Islamic Republic of Iran became one of the recent focus countries of the Regional Initiative.

The findings of such a rapid assessment reaffirmed that the restoration of Lake Oroumiyeh is firmly anchored to the whole-basin water balance (inflow-outflow), particularly through addressing the dual core challenges of firstly, reducing water consumption of development activities upstream the lake; and secondly, managing drought, climate variability, and related risks for reduced precipitations.

Inter-basin water transfer would represent an additional variable of the water-balance equation, provided that proper impact assessment is carefully considered. Water quality deserves due attention as well.