Iranian official: Lake Urmia’s water level drops

An Iranian official with energy ministry says, a new survey shows Lake Urmia’s water, in western Iran, has considerably dropped compared to last year.

Deputy for the Protection and Use of Iran’s West Azarbaijan Province Water Utility Javad Mohammadi said the lake’s area has decreased to 1,241 square kilometers since last year.

According to Mohammadi, Lake Urmia is now 2,324 square kilometers while it was 3,575 square kilometers this time last year. Meanwhile, the level of Lake Urmia has decreased 63 centimeters. Accordingly, the lake’s level is 1,270.73 meters while this figure was 1,271.36 meters last year.

The official noted that Lake Urmia’s water volume is 2.98 billion cubic meters, which is about 2 billion cubic meters less than the year before.

Authorities blame Lake Urmia’s decreasing water level on low downpours this year.

Earlier, the governor general of West Azarbaijan Province said the annual water share of Lake Urmia is 3.4 billion cubic meters, but since the beginning of the current water year (starting September 23, 2021), the lake has received less than 600 million cubic meters.

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