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The tragic destiny of Uremia Beautiful Lake and its relation to
Agricultural Development and Construction of Dams
A.M. Hossein Nezhad & Y. Aliyari
Ev Yol Construction Company, Iran
ABSTRACT:
Uremia Lake the second large salt water lake of the world is getting completely dry these years. Serious
environmental results including the death of wild species and salt moving ahead and spreading in the
area are destroying effects of this event. In this paper the amount of water brought to the lake from the
basin before improving agricultural activities and construction of about 30 dams on the rivers led to
Uremia Lake in the last 25 years will be compared with the amount of water after construction of these
dams and the real effect of the water decrease caused by agricultural development and construction of
these dams will be discussed. With this hope that the accurate studying considering the environmental
effects of dam construction and agricultural development will help nations to protect their natural
endowments from damages.
INTRODUCTION:
In the northwest of Iran "Orumieh" the second largest salt lake of the world located in the northwest of
Iran, has always had unique characteristics of its own. This lake is the largest internal water reservoir in
Iran and is the habitat of about 212 species of birds, 41 reptiles, 7 amphibians, and 27 species of
mammals, including the Iranian yellow deer. With regards to its size, depth, chemical composition,
ecology, water currents and wild species, this lake has been listed as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.
Figure 1: the situation of Orumieh Lake in the Northwest of Iran
A number of ports have been set up along the coasts of the Lake Orumieh in order to transport passengers
and cargo. Some of them have full port facilities including large warehouses. In the summer time the area
is swarmed with visitors who come for leisure and therapeutic purposes. The Orumieh Lake has about
102 large and small islands. The habitable peninsula of Islami (Shahi) is also located in the vicinity of the
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Lake. The migratory flamingos and pelicans and fresh drinkable water in some fountains near the salty
water of the lake are some of the interesting attractions of the area. The salty mud around the lake is said
to help in treatment of some kinds of disease. The remnants of the castle and prison of Holakoo Khan can
be observed on one of the heights, a sightseeing spot for tourists.
HISTORY & INITIAL CONDITIONS:
The ancient name of this lake was "Cheichast". Later and during the "Assyria Empire" (15th to 10th
centuries BC) they called the city adjacent to the lake "Ur Mia". In "Assyrian" language "Ur" meant city
and "Mia" meant water. So "Ur Mia" or Orumieh means the city of water. The name of the lake was also
changed to Orumieh in accordance to the name of the city.
The length of the lake is 130-140 Km and the maximum width is near to 63 Km while the minimum
width is about 16 Km. The area of the lake is about 5500 Square km and its volume is approximately 31
BCM. The average depth is something 5.6 M while the maximum depth in some parts of the lake reaches
to 14 M.
Orumieh Lake has been always fed by 21 permanent rivers and 7 temporary season rivers and about 39
streams. Direct rainfall and snowfall in winter and spring within several internal fountains are the other
water resources of the lake.
The Basin of Orumieh Lake has an area of 51000 square km with several fertile plains that form about
3% of total country area. The average annual precipitation is 398 mm in the basin. The temperature
around the lake reaches to 37 C and the annual evaporated water of the lake is about 6 BCM almost equal
to annual water flowing to the lake since long ago. The normal altitude of the lake has usually been 1275
m and in wet years it has sometimes reached 1278 m while the minimum altitude of 1274 m has also been
recorded in dry years before 1990 AC. The density of salt in the water of the lake has usually been around
250 g/l. This salt density provided a proper habitat for the precious tiny shrimp "Artemia", that has always
been the main food of migratory flamingoes and pelicans and other species of birds in the area. Artemia
are found worldwide in inland saltwater lakes like Orumieh but not in oceans. The salt and mineral mud
around the lake are reputed to have healing properties for skin and rheumatic afflictions and Iranian
people use mineral-rich black mud to treat their skin. The Equilibrium between water recourses and water
uses had caused the beautiful lake to survive for a long time. Figures 2~5 show some of mentioned
specifications of Orumieh Lake.
Figure 2: Kazem Dashi Island
Figure 3: Artemia
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Figure 4: Migratory birds around the lake
Figure 5: Mud bathing
PRESENT CONDITIONS:
In the last 20 years the annual water flowing to the lake has decreased. The total water pouring into the
lake in 2010 from the basin was about 1.5 BCM (almost 25% of the water brought to the lake in ordinary
years in the 1980s). On the other hand the amount of evaporation increased because of the climate change
of the area. In this conditions the total volume of the lake fell down to 14 BCM from original volume of
31 BCM in 1980. The high amount of evaporation and the great loss of water in the lake have caused the
density of the salt in the lake to increase to 380 g/l during the past 20 year period. This amount of salt is
not proper for Artemia to spawn and survive. In 2010, reproduction of Artemia reached zero. The
migratory birds that used to feed on the Artemia did not find enough food and lots of them have perished
in the last few years. The decreased depth of the lake caused difficulties for ships that transported goods
and people across the lake. Retreat of water from the ports has caused a reduction in tourism activities.
Some of the islands of the lake are now connected together so that you can walk from one island to the
other. A large amount of wild species are now lost in the area and these conditions are getting
continuously worse. Some big areas especially in northwest and also south of the lake have turned into
big salt deserts. The crystals of salt are changing to salt powder losing their water little by little and the
danger of spreading more than 8 billion ton salt into the cities and agriculture lands in the area has already
made the people in these cities worry about their future. People of the area think of these crystals of salt to
an eight billion ton salt bomb that will eventually explode in the area. The following figures show the
present conditions of the lake in comparison to its initial conditions.
Figure 6: Islands, Present &……………………………..…………….Past
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Figure 7: Transportation, Present &……………………………..…….Past
Figure 8: Ports, Present &……………….…………..…….…….Past
Figure 9: The Surface of the Lake 1998 ~ 2014
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BASIC FACTORS:
The Basin of Orumieh Lake is a Closed Basin. Closed Basins mostly lead to Lakes and Lagoons while
Open Basins usually lead to free seas or oceans. In open basins no important changes occur on the sea or
the ocean by using any amount of the water of the basin in different usages such as agriculture, industry
or drinking etc. But in closed basins by using excess amounts of water from the basin lowers the share of
the tailrace lake or lagoon, which can cause the lake or lagoon to dry out little by little. In other words in
closed basins an equilibrium should occur between the water coming to the lake or lagoon from the basin
and the loss of water in the lake or lagoon as a result of evaporation or any other cause.
Since 25 years ago the regime of water usage has gradually changed in the basin. The development of
agriculture as the main economic activity of the area became the most important goal for the people and
the government while development of other fields such as industry and mine and ranching also began to
thrive. All these could have been achieved by increasing the efficiency of water use. As an example and
of course most importantly, the efficiency of water use for agriculture in the area is 35% and if they could
increase this efficiency factor to 65% there would be no need to use more water in this part. But instead of
increasing the efficiency, construction of dams and drainage and irrigation systems became the policy to
obtain more water for different purposes. The more water was collected in dam reservoirs the more
evaporation occurred in reservoirs and on the other hand more lands were allotted to agriculture. As a
result in the last twenty years the share of agriculture water has increased by approximately 50% and on
the opposite the share of the lake has decreased. Unfortunately in the last 20 years the amount of rainfall
has also decreased as a result of drought. During these years the reduction of stream flows was
compensated by pumping water from illegal wells which have reached 20000 in number now. So the
reduction of rainfall not only did not cause a reduction in agricultural use of the water, it also caused
people to feel free to use underground water sources illegally for their farms and all these led to a
situation in 2010 where only 1.5 BCM of water came to the lake. Continuing these conditions will lead to
complete termination of the lake within less than 10 years.
THE ROLE OF DAMS:
Construction of dams in the Orumieh basin has had two different roles in the reduction of water in the
lake. The first role is the direct effect of evaporation of the water in the dam reservoirs and also the loss of
water infiltrated into the ground. The second role is the prevention of water flow that used to go directly
into the lake and is now regulated to be used in agriculture and industry.
The number of small and large dams that are now under operation is more than 30 and about 12 new dams
are under construction while more than 20 other ones are now under study. The number of the dams under
operation shows that their operation should be managed correctly in order to prevent the emerging
disasters in the lake. The dams under construction and those under study have to be looked at as well. The
specifications of some main dams that have had the most impact on the area are shown in table 1.
It is mentioned that only three dams of Zarrineh rood with 762 MCM and Mahabad with 230 MCM and
Shahr Chye with 221MCM collect and regulate 1.2 BCM of water and most of the regulated water is
transferred to downstream irrigation networks to be used for agriculture. An illustration of the location of
dams in main branches of rivers in the basin is shown in figure 10. In this illustration the dams under
study are not shown yet. As it is evident from the figure, there are not any branches of the rivers without a
small or medium dam. With this number of dams how much water is supposed to reach to the lake to keep
it as fresh as its initial state?
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Name of the
Dam
Kind of Dam
Height from
Crest Length Total Volume
Regulating
Basement M
M
MCM
Volume MCM
Earth Dam
47
700
230
195
Earth Dam
12
5270
101
93
Zarrineh Roud
Earth Dam
52
530
762
1159
Shahr Chye
Earth Dam
116
550
221
119
Alavian
Earth Dam
70
935
60
123
Mahabad
Hasanlou
Table 1: few main dams of Orumieh Basin
Figure 10: The location of dams in Orumieh basin
As discussed above, the development of agriculture during drought years of the basin by using the surface
water directly and regulated water of dam reservoirs and also legal and illegal wells of the basin can be
considered as the main reason for the current critical state of the lake and the role of dams in this mission
can be evaluated as a major role.
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DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT:
Satellite photos taken from different lands of Orumieh Basin in the period between 1990 and 2005
indicate big development of agriculture in these lands. It is interesting to note that most of the years in this
period have had the least rainfall in the last 50 years.
These photos and other agronomical studies indicate more than 80% development in this field. The
development of other fields such as industry, mining, fish production and ranching have also been
considerable. On the other hand unfortunately there has been some destruction in environment. During
these years the Lake of Orumieh has been going into a deep coma and everything that depended on it for
survival has fallen in the blind spot of managers. Statistic data have been recorded and archived for this
period of time without any effective practical output for processing the survival of the lake. The data of
the lake from the water year 1998-1999 till the water year 2008-2009 is shown in table 2.
Table 2: the summarized ground truth data from Orumieh Lake
water
years
change in
precipitation precipitation
(mm)
(mm)
water level
(m)
change in
water level
(m)
area
(km2)
change in
area
(km2)
water
input
lake
(mcm)
Change in
volume
(mcm)
1976-1998
281.08
0.00
1276.042
0
5227
0
3147
0
1998-1999
165.83
-115.25
1276.407
0.365
5206.79
-20.21
536.7
-2610.3
1999-2000
168.03
-113.05
1275.436
-0.606
4656.24
-570.76
347
-2800
2000-2001
197.59
-83.49
1274.44
-1.602
4342.28
-884.52
262
-2885
2001-2002
295.36
14.29
1273.759
-2.283
4185.13
-1041.87
1502
-1645
2002-2003
320.23
39.15
1273.616
-2.426
4329.07
-897.93
4675
1528
2003-2004
320.41
39.34
1273.728
-2.314
4241.98
-985.02
2749
-398
2004-2005
270.61
-10.47
1273.572
-2.47
4146.16
-1080.84
2126
-1021
2005-2006
287.90
6.82
1273.189
-2.853
4099.57
-1127.43
1701
-1446
2006-2007
319.58
38.50
1273.158
-2.884
4063.97
-1163.03
2798
-349
2007-2008
205.78
-75.30
1272.214
-3.828
3497.31
-1729.69
509
-2638
2008-2009
219.25
-61.83
1271.144
-4.898
3107.78
-2119.22
233
-2914
Responsible managers should have used a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Method in order to
consider both development and protection of environment and unfortunately they did not. Environment
activists tried to help others see and hear the voice of the disaster but they did not succeed and only when
plenty of dams had been constructed and plenty were under construction they noticed what the danger
was. The destruction of the beautiful lake was not the only problem. The absence of Artemia and
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Level (m)
migratory flamingoes and other species of wild and even the unique Iranian yellow deer might be
considered unimportant compared to the development of green and fertile lands and economic growth of
the region. But dimensions of the disaster will be more enormous. An eight billion ton salt bomb is now
switched on. The spread of the salt powder in the area will lead to so many diseases. This is in addition to
the other effects such as the destruction of a large part of agricultural lands that will cause migration of a
large part of the habitants of the area. Unfortunately according to various calculations the death of
Orumieh Lake is quite certain. The graph in figure 11 predicts the future conditions of the lake according
to statistical data.
1278
1276
1274
1272
1270
1268
1266
1264
1262
1995
2000
2005
2010
Year
2015
2020
2025
Figure 11: The prediction of Orumieh Lake water level in future
As another example depicting the effect of development on the environment we can look at Aral Lake
which was the 4th large lake in the world in 1960. Now instead of Aral Lake there is a large desert and the
influence of this incident has changed the life of millions of people.
Figure 12: Aral Lake before and after development designs
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CONCLUSION:
Orumieh Lake is another victim of what we call stable development. We can also mention the Aral Lake
as another example be. There may be many other victims not only in lakes and reservoirs but also in wild
species and even human beings. But there’s no doubt that the construction of dams in order to develop the
agricultural activities has been an effective factor in what is going to happen to the beautiful lake of
Orumieh.
The question is: "Does human being has this right to use any recourse to develop his economic
activities?" If yes, what will happen to the environment and what will mankind do with these big changes
that affect life in the future? And if not, what are the limitations and which international organization is
responsible for the terrible natural disasters that occur and influence the future life of mankind?
REFERENCES:
Jamab Consulting Engineers, 2005, The present and future conditions of Orumieh Lake Basin Volume
1&2
Rasouli, Ali Akbar, 2007, Recording sways of water level in Orumieh Lake…, University of Tabriz, Iran
Abedini, Mousa, Numerical analysis of Hydro-geomorphologic, environmental potentials of touristy
Orumieh lake basin and shoreline for land planning (North West of Iran)
Hobbevatan, Mohammad, Ministry of Energy of Iran, 2009, 2nd Regional Workshop on Development of
the Eco-Efficient Water Infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific, Republic of Korea
The Portal of Under Operation Dams Information System, Dam Maintenance and Operation Office, Iran
Water Resources Management Company, Ministry of Energy, Iran