Efforts on saving water within the drainage basin of the long-disturbed Lake Urmia are reaching the target, with a 32% decrease in water usage, a senior water authority in West Azarbaijan Said. According to Kioumars Daneshjou, head of the Regional Water Authority, multiple measures have so far been taken in line with the long-term target of cutting 40% of water consumption in Urmia's zone, which have made a noticeable contribution, ISNA reported.
"The saved water is stored in natural and man-made water reservoirs, ready to be released into the desiccating lake," Daneshjou said.
Dam Building on Hold
Part of the plans by Urmia Lake Restoration Project to cut down on consumption focused on preventing the construction of new dams and suspending the projects already underway until the lake recovers to an acceptable level. In line with this goal, "the building of the semi-finished Simineh, Barandouz and Nazlou dams has been stopped," Daneshjou said.
The excessive construction of dams over the rivers feeding the lake have led to injudicious exploitation of water in the lake's catchment area, "this is while, dams are technically build to manage the existing water resources," he added.
The water authority has also put it high on its agenda to address illegal encroachment into the rivers' buffer zone to prevent water from being directly withdrawn from the rivers that should otherwise fill up the lake.
"The priority is given to freeing up the banks of Shahar Chay River beginning from its downstream area," Daneshjou added.
Well Blockage
There are reportedly over 34,000 licensed and 60,000 illegal water wells in the Urmia Lake's catchment area, lavishly gulping water to feed the surrounding farmlands, and on a smaller scale for industries and urban fresh water use.
"Since the beginning of the current Iranian year (March 21), the RWA has blocked 1,800 illegal wells," the official said.
The licensed wells are also being equipped with smart water and power meters [to help monitor and control consumption], Daneshjou added.
"Around 4,000 smart meters have been purchased and installed and more will be supplied and installed soon," he said.
The main reason behind the rise in the number of illegal wells, according to him, is separation of farmlands into smaller patches and switching from dry farming to irrigated farming.
Other Goals
Besides reducing consumption, other projects are underway both to increase the inflow of water into Urmia and avert desertification. For instance, dredging over 60 kilometers of West Azarbaijan's rivers as well as some 300 km of their tributaries have greatly helped ease the flow of water into the lake.
To alleviate desertification in the lake's area, which has turned into a potential source of salt and dust storms, projects have been carried out by the Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization. According to Khalil Aqaei, FRWMO's head, some 700 billion rials have been allotted to projects on planting trees adaptable to drought, in Azarshahr, Shabestar and Ajabshir counties, Zist Online reported.
"With the cooperation of local residents, the planting project has been successfully carried out in a wide area… The contribution of the plants in preventing storms is already visible," Aqaei said, hoping that the practice will extend to the other dry areas throughout the country.
Less than 20 years ago, the lake, located in West Azarbaijan Province, was Iran's largest inland body of water.
It has dried up drastically due to a variety of factors, including the construction of several dams that have choked off water supply from the mountains on either side of the lake.
Today, the lake contains only 5% of the amount of water it did then. Many restorative measures have been taken since the incumbent government took office (in 2013) such as reducing agricultural water consumption and directing water from rivers to the lake, some of which have produced favorable results; but it still has a long way to go before it can be restored to an ideal level.
Reportedly, so far over 27 trillion rials ($613 million) of budget has been allocated to the lake's revival projects.
