Cracks have appeared in a tunnel that was slated to transfer water from Kanisib Dam in Piranshahr, West Azarbaijan Province, to Urmia Lake, the head of Iran Water and Power Resources Development Company, a subsidiary of the Energy Ministry, said.
“Deep cracks have appeared on the walls and ceiling of the 40-km structure and domestic and foreign startups have teamed up to repair the damage to revive the troubled lake whose death is imminent,” Karim Sheibani Yekta was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
Blaming previous managers [as is the norm in Iran], the official noted that the tunnel was filled with water much earlier than scheduled and its walls cracked due to technical defects.
“Although the project is complete, it cannot become operational unless the widening cracks are fixed and obviously that will take time,” he added.
The tunnel is part of a plan to restore a lake that has been struggling with serious drought for years, but now the whole scheme is lagging behind as the lake’s situation is worsening.
Once the second-largest saltwater lake in the Middle East, the lake attracted birds and bathers to bask in its turquoise waters in northwest Iran. Nonetheless, in the early 1970s, nearly three decades of drought have shriveled the basin, shrinking it by a shocking 90%.
“The tunnel, after it is repaired, will allow the transfer of 5 cubic meters of water per second from the Kanisib Dam, located near the border with Iraq, to the lake,” he said, adding that with the completion of the project, 600 million cubic meters of water will be transferred to the lake.
Environmental advocates have warned about the deteriorating condition of Urmia Lake, a large salt lake that has shrunk in size because of repeated spells of drought, damming and unrestrained groundwater pumping in surrounding areas.
Local officials in West Azarbaijan said in March that the surface area of Urmia Lake had shrunk by nearly a third over one year to reach 2,324 square kilometers.
The amount of water in the lake has also declined by less than a half to around 3 billion cubic meters, down 40% compared to 2019 when it stored 5 bcm.
Dust Storms
The drying up of Urmia Lake has caused major dust storms in Iran in recent years.
The Energy Ministry will purchase lands near the Kanisib Dam for expanding the reservoir and ensuring that the supply of water to the lake will remain stable.
Yekta said river dredging and other operations will continue, until the project is completed.
Water transfer, both from domestic and foreign sources, had long been proposed as a solution to restore the lake.
Other measures have been taken to help replenish the lake, including the efficient management of surface and underground water in the lake’s vicinity, sealing over 4,000 illegal wells near the region and promoting sustainable farming on 6,000 hectares.
In addition, plans are underway to annually supply 105 mcm of treated wastewater from nearby cities like Tabriz and Urmia to the lake.
Transferring reclaimed wastewater to the lake is a practical solution without environmental costs, which can help revive the troubled inland water body.
With a total investment of $100 million, the West Azarbaijan Water and Wastewater Company is building several treatment plants in cities located in the lake's catchment area, one of which is in Tabriz with a total capacity of processing over 125 million cubic meters of sewage per year.
Operations are also underway in Ajabshir, Bonab and Azarshahr in East Azarbaijan Province.
