Urmia Lake Depletion Unabated

Urmia Lake’s water level is currently 1,270 meters, down 53 centimeters compared to last year’s level, the head of Integrated Water Resources Management Department at the Energy Ministry said.
“The lake has received 500 million cubic meters of water from eight dams in West Azarbaijan Province between September 2021 and May 2022. However, high evaporation rate, declining precipitation and severe drought in Iran have adversely affected the water level in Iran’s largest inland body of water,” Kiasat Amirian was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
At present, the lake holds 2.7 billion cubic meters of water, which is 50% lower compared to 2019 when it stored 5 bcm. The area of Urmia Lake has dwindled by 300 square kilometers to 3,000 sq. km., he added.