Water Transfer from Kanisib Dam Expected to Replenish Urmia Lake 

The water transfer project from Kanisib Dam in Piranshahr, West Azarbaijan Province, is one of the measures to revive Urmia Lake, which will become operational in the coming months, deputy energy minister for water affairs said.
“A 36-kilometer tunnel is in its final stages of construction and water will reach the lake soon,” Mohammad Javanbakht was also quoted as saying by the Energy Ministry’s news portal Paven.
“The project 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.
The announcement came days after environmental advocates warned about the deteriorating condition of Urmia Lake, a large salt lake that has shrunk in size and water supply because of repeated spells of drought, damming and groundwater pumping in surrounding areas.