Various factors such as the volume of water entering from the rivers to this catchment area and the amount of rainfall and the rate of evaporation have a determining role in the water level of the Caspian Sea, Behzad Layeqi, head of the National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science said.

Lamenting that the water level of the Caspian Sea has been decreasing over the past 30 years, he said that in 1977, the water level of the Sea fell sharply and until 1995 experienced an increasing trend; But since then, over the past 26 years, the seawater level is on a downward trend.

It is now one meter above the level of this lake in 1977 – which was the lowest level of the Caspian Sea during the last five decades – and if the same trend continues, it will again reach its lowest level in less than 10 years, he highlighted.

Long-term forecasts based on climate change scenarios show a 4-6 meters drop in the lake’s water level over the next 30 to 50 years, he said, ISNA reported on Friday.

The declining water level of the Sea, in addition to the problems it poses for ports and shipping in this catchment area, has negative effects on ecologically protected areas, including wetlands, as well as the aquatic life, due to the increased salinity and temperature of the water, he stated.

Pointing to another factor in reducing the water level of the Caspian Sea, he noted that the largest river that enters the Caspian Sea is the Volga River, which supplies about 85 percent of the Sea, but in recent years, several dams have been built on the riverbed its water consumption in various parts has reduced the volume of water entering the Caspian Sea.

He further suggested that granting the water right of the Sea and its rivers is one of the most important measures that all Caspian littoral countries can take in order to prevent the water level reduction.

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area. It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast. The sea has an area of 600,384 square kilometers and a coastline of 7,000 kilometers.

Hosting 400 aquatic species and holding third place in terms of oil and gas reserves under its bed after the “Persian Gulf” and “Siberia” has doubled the value of this basin, while sturgeon are the most important inhabitants of the lake.

Researchers believe that 80 percent of the pollution in the Caspian Sea is related to the flow of water from the Volga River and other western rivers from the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Frequent oil spills in the coastal areas of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the entry of waste of over 40 factories and refineries into the sea, the decline, and extinction of the Caspian Sea aquatic species since 1990, are among the main challenges faced by the Caspian Sea.

The National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science has conducted extensive studies in this catchment area, including more than 10 research patrols in the Caspian Sea, obtaining a certificate and setting up a trusted laboratory of the Department of Environment, identification of high-risk points for cracking waves on the shores of the Sea.

Moreover, sampling of bed sediments in the deep waters of the southern Caspian Basin, publication of more than 80 scientific documents on the Caspian Sea, study, measurement, and modeling in Gorgan Bay and presented scientific and executive solutions for the sustainability of its ecosystem and more than 70 research projects in the southern part of the Caspian Sea are other actions of researchers at the Research Institute.

Grappling with poor waste management

Ahmad Reza Lahijanzadeh, deputy chief of the Department of Environment (DOE) for the marine environment, said in August 2020 that waste management in the Caspian Sea is on the verge of crisis and seriously threatens the Sea’s environment.

In addition to waste, leachate enters the sea through rivers or rainfall, and because the severity of leachate pollution is very high, it imposes a serious threat to the marine environment, he lamented.

Noting that the release of urban and rural wastewater into the sea is another problem the Caspian Sea is struggling with, he clarified that a number of cities in the northern provinces either do not have a wastewater treatment plant.

Stating that plastics and microplastics are among the issues that can be a threat to humanity in the next 10 years, he noted that erosion makes microplastics out of plastic waste, and 70 percent of these are transferred directly to the seas, and therefore can enter the aquatic and human food cycle, causing damage to human health and marine biodiversity.

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Lake Urmia, located in the northwest of Iran, was once the most extensive permanent hypersaline lake in the world. Unsustainable water management in response to increasing demand together with climatic extremes has given rise to the lake’s depletion during the last two decades. The lake’s restoration program was established in 2013 and aims to restore the lake within a 10-year program.

The Kanisib tunnel, stretching to 35 km, is the most important structure for transferring water to Lake Urmia to prevent it from drying out, which is currently in the final stages of construction, Tajrishi, deputy head of the Department of Environment (DOE) said.

The project has been proposed by the government. So far, a budget of 28 trillion rials (nearly $666 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been spent on it, he noted.

The water transfer tunnel cause Lake Urmia to reach its ecological level over the next seven years, which is 1274.1 meters with 15 billion cubic meters of water and 4,300 square kilometers surface, he added.

Tajrishi went on to say that currently, 150 million cubic meters of water is stored behind this dam, which is ready to be transferred to Lake Urmia, expressing hope that the project will be fully operational by the end of September.

Farhad Sarkhosh, head of the Lake Urmia Restoration Program’s office in West Azarbaijan province said that there is another water transfer project from West Azarbaijan, which will also be exploited by the end of this year (March 21, 2022).

With the full utilization of water transfer projects, nearly 1.1 million cubic meters of water will enter Lake Urmia annually, he added.

Over 640 million cubic meters of water will release to the Lake annually from the south of West Azerbaijan, 300 million cubic meters from all wastewater treatment plants in neighboring provinces, and 180 million cubic meters from the Silveh Dam, he explained.

Lake Urmia’s surface increased by over 1500 km²

Lake Urmia’s surface area has reached up to 2,917 square kilometers, indicating 1,582 square kilometers increase in comparison to 2013 when the Lake Urmia Restoration Program began.

The level of Lake Urmia has reached 1,271 meters, which indicates an increase of over 1.39 meters compared to the lowest volume recorded, Sarkhosh said.

The volume of water also raised by 3.81 billion cubic meters, which has increased more than 5 times compared to the Iranian calendar year 1394 (March 2015-March 2016) and before the Lake Urmia Restoration Program started, he highlighted.

Achieving sustainable rehabilitation requires countless efforts, such as preventing the lake’s water flow from entering the agricultural land. Lake Urmia’s condition stabilized with a positive trend due to heavy rainfall, but there is a fear that this trend will be reversed by drought in the coming years.

The above normal levels of rain came to help conservation measures to preserve Lake Urmia, however, it still needs 9.5 billion cubic meters of water to reach its ecological level.

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