Tehran – Based on the latest report, Lake Urmia has around 1.55 billion cubic meters of water, showing the same growth as last year, the IRNA reported on Sunday.
Lake Urmia in northwestern Azarbaijan began to deplete in the 2000s. The lake is the largest in West Asia and the sixth largest salt lake in the world, with a water surface area of 5,000-6,000 square kilometers.
Compared to the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year in March 2024, water volume increased by 330 MCM, the IRNA reported.
The current level of the urban lake is 1,270.25 meters, showing a 6 centimeter rise compared to last year, and 13 centimeters compared to the beginning of the current water year on September 23rd.
The area of Lake Urmia currently stands at about 1,110 square kilometers, an increase of 90 square kilometers and 180 square kilometers, respectively compared to last year, marking the beginning of the current water year.
The sediment has declined 38% since the start of the current water year, down 32% compared to the average long-term figures.
Effective repair
Through a joint project led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the Japanese government, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will participate in promoting sustainable agricultural practices and solutions for lake conservation That’s what I mean. urmia.
On December 1, 2024, the Japanese government and UNDP signed the exchange of notes to launch a project to develop a conservation system for Lake Urmia and other wetlands.
the communities around them. ” The project, which will be carried out between 2024 and 2028, will be implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and FAO.
Focusing on sustainable agriculture and climate-adapted livelihoods, the initiative aims to provide long-term benefits to the community while preserving wetland biodiversity as a key ecosystem.
Lake Urmia faces major challenges due to the overconsumption of water resources, which has been expanded by the effects of climate change, and has severely impacted its ecosystem.
Agricultural activities in the region are becoming increasingly vulnerable to water shortages, a situation exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Research shows that these climate change could further disrupt the agrifood system and the vulnerable environment of the lake in the future.
With support from the Japanese government, FAO has identified technical agricultural solutions to increase water efficiency in the agricultural sector in the Urmia Lake Basin.
Since 1995, Lake Urmia has been shrinking due to rapid upstream agriculture expansion and climate change. These forces are putting precious lakes at risk of depletion, putting local health, economy, environment, industry and agriculture at risk.
Despite the efforts of the Urmia Lake Repair Program National Committee and focusing on lake recovery since 2013, the continuation of the critical situation is that sustainability, macro and micro management solutions are key to action plans It shows that it should be considered as an essential essence.
In 2016, in a coordinated effort to address the challenges facing the Urmia Lake Basin, FAO launched the “Integrated Program for Sustainable Water Resource Management in the Urmia Lake Basin.” This was funded by the Japanese government.
Key technical achievements of this initiative include implementing waters and projects in the Urmia Lake Basin and identifying water consumption hotspots within the Basin. In particular, water accounting revealed the positive contributions of irrigation and rain agriculture to the evapotranspiration intake of the lake, highlighting the importance of water-saving measures to the recovery of the lake.
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