Urmia Lake Surface Area Expanding

The surface area of Iran’s largest inland body of water (Lake Urmia) has increased by 68% over the last six years, the Urmia Lake Restoration Project administrator and director of the Planning Office said.
“The size of the lake had dwindled to less than 1,780 square kilometers in 2014.  The ULPR helped raise the area to 3,000 km2,” Masoud Tajrishi was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Had it not been for restoration plan the lake would have dried up and salt storms would seriously endanger the livelihood of more than six million people in a 100-kilometer radius, he said.
Debate over the potential health hazards of Lake Urmia became a regular feature of the local media in 2013 (before the ULRP was mandated to stabilize the lake’s water level), with those involved in the restoration program pointing to cancer, high blood pressure and respiratory diseases as the main dangers of the drying lake.