Review on reasons of drying Urmia Lake and solutions for rehabilitating

Urmia Lake is listed in the Ramsar Sites (Convention of Wetlands of International Importance) and known as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The lake is facing the gravest situation in the past 100 years, approaching total desiccation rivaling the Aral Sea disaster in Central Asia. According to estimates Lake Urmia has lost over 98% of its water by end of last summer, leaving behind hundreds of thousands of hectares of salt fields which can fuel salt storms that will impair agriculture and cause problems for citizens in Urmia, Tabriz and elsewhere in the basin. The Urmia Lake crisis has reached a very critical stage and we must find solutions to restore it. So, the aim of the present paper is to provide a brief review based on previous and recent literature on reasons of drying Lake Urmia and then, give several solutions for restoring it.

کلیدواژه ها:

Lake Urmia ، Rehabilitating ، Drying ، Solutions