Urmia Archives - Iran News Daily

Japan Contributes ¥690 Million to Restore Lake Urmia

mahla — Sun, 01 Dec 2024 22:03:06 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Iran has welcomed a ¥690 million ($4.6 million) contribution from Japan to advance wetland conservation efforts and promote climate-adapted livelihoods in Lake Urmia, Shadegan, Parishan, and Anzali wetlands.

Japan, a long-time partner of UNDP and the Iranian government since 2014, has consistently supported sustainable resource management and community livelihood diversification in Iran’s wetland basins.

The latest agreement, signed on Dec. 1, 2024, formalizes a project titled “The Project for Developing Conservation System of Wetlands in Lake Urmia and Other Wetlands including their Surrounding Communities.” The initiative will run from 2024 to 2028 in collaboration with Iran’s Department of Environment and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Building on prior achievements, the project aims to expand successful conservation practices, focusing on sustainable agriculture and alternative livelihoods adapted to climate challenges. The approach seeks to preserve wetland biodiversity while improving community well-being.

“Over the past ten years, the unwavering support from the People and the Government of Japan has positively impacted agricultural productivity and enhanced livelihoods in target communities,” said Gulbahor Nematova, UNDP Iran Deputy Resident Representative. “In the next four years, we will continue promoting innovative, water-efficient agricultural practices while emphasizing scaling up for a better future for all.”

Highlighting the project’s importance, Japan’s Ambassador to Iran Tamaki Tsukada, emphasized the critical role of Iran’s 26 wetlands listed under the Ramsar Convention. “These wetlands, including Lake Urmia, are vital for biodiversity and migratory birds and must be conserved with international cooperation,” he said.

The Ambassador pointed out that conserving Lake Urmia requires managing excessive water extraction, improving irrigation systems to adapt to climate change, and developing sustainable industries like eco-tourism. He expressed optimism about the project’s potential to address these challenges while generating knowledge and technology applicable to other Iranian wetlands.

“We hope that the new project signed today will contribute to the environmental protection and economic development of the areas around the wetlands,” Tsukada added.

UNDP is the United Nations’ leading development organization, operating in 170 countries to deliver sustainable solutions for people and the planet.

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Wetlands protection helps sustainable agriculture around Lake Urmia

mahla — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 22:14:18 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) –The plan to protect wetlands has reduced water consumption by up to 27 percent, helping sustainable agriculture around Lake Urmia.

The consumption of chemical fertilizers has also been reduced by 25-40 percent, IRNA reported.

The unique characteristics of wetlands, including groundwater control, climate change adaptation, the livelihood of local communities through fishing, livestock grazing and agriculture, natural water purification, purification and absorption of pollutants, and nature tourism have made sustainable management and protection of wetlands essential for humans, Jaleh Amini, an official with the Department of Environment has said.

In this line, comprehensive management plans have been prepared for 44 wetlands in the country.

Therefore, the DOE determined water rights for 11 wetlands out of 25 wetlands that are registered in the Ramsar Convention, but the conditions of the wetlands show that the water rights have not been fully met.

The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Lake Urmia in the northwestern West Azarbaijan province started to dry up in the 2000s.

The lake is the largest lake in West Asia and the sixth-largest Salt Lake in the world with a water surface area of 5,000 to 6,000 square kilometers.

As the first project to revive the Lake, the construction of a tunnel with a length of 36 kilometers to transfer water from the Dam to the Lake started in 2015, IRNA reported.

Some 35 trillion rials (about $70 million) have been spent on the project.

In the first phase, 300 million cubic meters of water are projected to enter Lake Urmia every year.

The second phase is going to come on stream in the current Iranian calendar year that started on March 21, increasing the volume of water to 600 million cubic meters.

The wastewater treatment plant of the city of Urmia, as the second project aimed at reviving Lake Urmia, will come on stream in the near future.

Once the project is inaugurated, 51 million cubic meters of treated wastewater will be transferred to Lake Urmia, Mohammad- Sadeq Motamedian, the governor-general of West Azarbaijan province and the secretary of the national working group for Lake Urmia restoration, said, IRIB reported.

This important project started in the calendar year 1394 (March 2015-March 2016) but stopped in the year 1399 (March 2020-March 2021) due to financial problems, he explained.

Some 5 trillion rials (about $10 million) have been recently earmarked for speeding up the implementation of the Lake Urmia revival plan.

The lake is designated for the List of Wetlands of International Importance, Ramsar Site, as well as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve, which is a protected area with the aim of conserving nature and culture in the region and community development.

Based on the studies and according to the statement of the Lake Urmia Restoration Program, 18 percent of the drying was due to climate change and 82 percent was due to the mismanagement of water resources in the catchment area, Somayeh Rafiei, a member of the Majlis (Iranian Parliament), has said.

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Dam reservoirs down by 30% in current water year

mahla — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 10:03:22 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The total volume of water in dam reservoirs is estimated at about 17.67 billion cubic meters since the beginning of the current water year (September 23, 2021), showing a 30 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.

An examination of the condition of the country’s dams shows that the total volume of inflows to the country’s dams since September 23, is equal to 2.84 billion cubic meters, which shows a decrease of 44 percent compared to the same period last year (March 2020-March 2021).

Referring to the total capacity of Iran’s dam reservoirs standing at 50.5 billion cubic meters, he said that there is 35 percent of water impounded in dams, IRIB reported on Sunday.

Out of a total of 183 currently operational dams across Iran, 52 are related to the Caspian Sea catchment area, 12 are based in the Urmia basin, 68 dams are located in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman watersheds, 34 dams are in the Central Plateau, 11 dams are in Sarakhs catchment basin, and another six dams are located across the eastern boundary basin (Hamoun).

Renewable water resources have decreased by 30 percent over the last four decades, while Iran’s population has increased by about 2.5 times, Qasem Taqizadeh, deputy minister of energy, has said.

Groundwater resources declining

A recent report by Nature Scientific Journal on Iran’s water crisis indicates that from 2002 to 2015, over 74 billion cubic meters have been extracted from aquifers, which is unprecedented and its revival takes thousands of years along with urgent action.

Three Iranian scientists studied 30 basins in the country and realized that the rate of aquifer depletion over a 14-year period has been about 74 billion cubic meters, which is recently published in Nature Scientific Journal.

Also, over-harvesting in 77 percent of Iran has led to more land subsidence and soil salinity. Research and statistics show that the average overdraft from the country’s aquifers was about 5.2 billion cubic meters per year.
Mohammad Darvish, head of the environment group in the UNESCO Chair on Social Health that the situation of groundwater resources is worrisome.

The report notes that Iran’s water consumption has increased due to a significant increase in legal and illegal wells, the expansion of agricultural land, and increasing livelihood dependence on water and soil resources in agriculture, livestock, and poultry, which are mainly caused by human factors, Darvish noted.

The statistic is unprecedented, as the total reservoirs of all dams in the country have a capacity of about 50 billion cubic meters; In other words, in the last 14 years, 22 billion cubic meters more than the capacity of all dams have been extracted from the country’s underground sources, he explained.

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Lake Urmia water level rose by 71cm

reporter 1222 — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 13:01:46 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The water level at Lake Urmia, northwestern Iran, currently stands at an elevation of 1,271 meters above sea level, which is 71 centimeters more than the water level on the corresponding date of last year, a senior official said.

Head of Lake Urmia Restoration Project Farhad Sarkhosh said Sunday that the water level in the lake currently is estimated at 3.29 billion cubic meters, thanks to the strategic plans to revive the thirsty lake since the implementation of the project.

“The Urmia lake is now covering some 2,794 square kilometers of land, indicating a 747 square km increase since last year,” he added.

Shared between West Azarbaijan and East Azarbaijan provinces in northwestern Iran, Lake Urmia, was once the largest salt-water lake in the Middle East.

However, decades of long-standing drought spells and elevated hot summer temperatures that speed up evaporation as well as increased water demands in the agriculture sector shrank the lake drastically. In 1999 the volume of water which was at 30 billion cubic meters drastically decreased to half a billion cubic meters in 2013. Moreover, the lake’s surface area of 5,000 square kilometers in 1997 shrunk to one-tenth of that to 500 square kilometers in 2013.

During the last water year (September 2017- 2018), the lake’s water level raised by 174 centimeters which means 1271.96 meters above the sea level, however, it decreased by 73 centimeters during the summer due to evaporation and lack of water in the rivers.

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Iran wins intl. karate C’ships in Urmia

reporter 1222 — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 10:00:08 +0000

Iran has won the 14th edition of Solidarity & Friendship Karate Male Championships which was held in the western Iranian city of Urmia.

The 14th edition of Solidarity & Friendship Karate Male Championships kicked off on Friday and attracted about 400 karate practitioners from 14 countries including teams from France, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

The tournament lasted for 4 days in 15 different divisions and wrapped up yesterday in the capital city of West Azerbaijan province, Urmia.

In the individual kata section in junior, senior and adult categories, Mohammad Mostafa Zafarizadeh and Mehdi Rezaei from Iran and an opponent from Azerbaijan received gold medals.

Iran also won the most gold medals in the kumite division in junior, senior and adult categories, followed by Turkey and Kazakhstan.

On the final day of the tournament, Iran stood at the top with 10 gold, 15 silver and 23 bronze medals followed by Turkey with 4 gold and 1 silver and 1 bronze medals and Azerbaijan with 2 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals in the second and third places, respectively.

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Marmisho Lake in Urmia: A Tourist Attraction of Iran

reporter 1222 — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 06:00:36 +0000

Marmisho Region is located in 70km Northwest of Iran’s northwestern city of Urmia (also known as Oroumiyeh) in a long valley with 184km2 area.

Marmisho Lake is known as lost paradise where everyone are amazed by staggeringly beautiful landscapes including stunning lake in the heart of Marmisho Mountain and that is why due to its unique peacefulness and enriched environment called the miracle of the nature where all magnificent elements of nature can be found there trees and shrubs in Marmisho Region.

The classical floristic study was the method of plant collection in this region. Collected plants were recognized and determined as families, genera and species by using of plant taxonomic method and appropriate floras.

Life form of plant species was determined based on Raunkiaer’s method. The results showed that in the region there are 47 tree and shrub species belong to 18 families. These species are chorotype as follows: 29 Irano- Turanian species and 1 Endemic was Ulmus Boissieri GRUDZ.

In addition to forest cover and abundance of willow trees, walnut trees around villages and districts, oak, pistachio, jujube, pear, quince, almond, tamarisk, poplar and other shrubs have given the manifestation of the lush nature, and among different types of milk vetch, provides a good place to grow bees and attract beekeepers. But the other plant species are camel thorn, nettle, iris, tulips juniper, liquorice, poppy, onion, radish, yarrow, chicory, thyme, artichokes should be named.

Source: Travital

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One killed as Iranian army chopper crashes in Urmia

reporter 1222 — Fri, 29 Sep 2017 05:07:00 +0000

An Iranian army helicopter has crashed in the northwestern city of Urmia , leaving one person dead and two others injured.

The Bell 214 chopper came down due to a technical problem during a test flight on Thursday, deputy head for coordination at Hamza Sayyid al-Shuhada Base Habib Shahsavari told Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

He said one person was killed and two others suffered mild injuries, adding the injured would probably be released from hospital in the next one or two days.

Another official, Karim Hosseinnejad, said among the flight crew, the air engineer was killed and the pilot and the co-pilot were wounded.

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Budget deficit could delay Lake Urmia’s revival: environment chief

reporter 1222 — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 09:12:35 +0000

TEHRAN — Lake Urmia is already saved from total dryness, however, budget deficit might postpone the lake’s full restoration, the chief of the Department of Environment said on Monday.

“Currently full restoration of the lake depends on the budget the government allocates to the revival projects,” Isa Kalantari said during his first press conference after taking on the position. “The effective measures needed to be taken to restore the lake are clear, but the later the budget is allocated the longer it takes the lake to fully revive.”

Full restoration of the lake requires an annual budget of 20 trillion rials (nearly $500 million), Kalantari said, regretting, “right now we are short of some 17 trillion rials (nearly $425 million) per annum.”

Kalantari who is also the head of Lake Urmia restoration program explained that so far some 25 trillion rials (nearly $625 million) is spent on lake restoration projects and some additional 200 trillion rials (nearly $5 billion) is required to bring the lake back to its’ former glory.

In 1997 the volume of water at the lake measured at 30 billion cubic meters which dramatically decreased to half a billion cubic meters in 2013 and again rose to 2.5 billion cubic meters in 2017, Lewis explained showing a table to the conference.

With a surface area of approximately 5,200 square kilometers, Lake Urmia in northwest Iran, was once the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth, but is facing a dramatic decline for some years now.

Old and inefficient irrigation methods, depleting ground water resources within the lake watershed, long periods of drought, damming rivers which were supposed to flow into the lake and on top of that mismanagement and inappropriate measures intensified the lake’s status over time.

The lake which was a major tourist attraction and a home to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds has shrunk substantially. In 1997 the volume of water at the lake measured at 30 billion cubic meters which dramatically decreased to half a billion cubic meters in 2013 and while the lake had a surface area of 5,000 square kilometers in 1997 the surface shrunk to one tenth of that to 500 square kilometers in 2013.

However by planning restoration programs the volume of water rose to 2.5 billion cubic meters in 2017 and the surface area has now restored to almost half of the original amount measuring at 2,300 square kilometers.

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