An Overview on the Effects of Poorly Designed Development

Plans on the Urmia Lake Ecosystem in Iran

E. Kianirad1,2 and P. Rahimzadeh1
1
Master’s student, Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Iran
2
Corresponding author: eh_kia@yahoo.com

Abstract
Urmia brackish lake with an average area of 5500 km2 is the biggest natural lake in
the Middle East. This lake is located in the northwest of Iran between 45°10’ E to
45°45’ E and 37°5’ N to 38°17’ N. The lake has been registered in Ramsar
Convention (1971) and UNESCO (Convention Concerning the Protection of the
World Culture and Natural Heritage, 1972) due to its unique characteristics. This lake
is also recognized in the Man and Biosphere Action and is the second most brackish
water body in the world.
The average annual precipitation in Urmia basin with an area of 52000 km2 ranges
between 200 to 600 mm. Eight permanent rivers and 14 small seasonal rivers flow
into the lake especially from southern parts.
Over the past two decades, construction of civil structures has damaged the natural
conditions of the area. Dams, water networks and in particular a poorly designed
causeway construction have changed the hydraulics and hydrodynamics of the lake. In
this study the major impacts of various development activities in the lake ecosystem
have been identified and the relationships between local water management and
development projects and degradation of susceptible ecosystem have been evaluated
and a restoration plan has been proposed.

Keywords: environmental impacts, ecosystem, hydrology, restoration, water

management plan, Urmia Lake, Iran.
1. Introduction
Consideration of ecological and environmental issues should be an inevitable part of
every development plan. Poorly designed plans can lead to unfavorable environmental
impacts on vulnerable ecosystems. Among all ecosystems, lakes present unique
ecosystems solely characteristic of the region they are located in and hence, are of
great ecological value. Urmia Lake1 located between three provinces of Iran, is a
unique lake greatly affected by human activities which have brought about
considerable chemical, physical and hydrological changes. Over the past decades,
numbers of development plans have been carried out in the region. Many of these
plans and projects have resulted in unfavorable impacts on the physical, chemical and
environmental conditions of the lake. The present paper is an endeavor to present an
overview of the environment of the lake, the current construction and development
projects and to pinpoint some of the major impacts of such plans. An attempt has also
been made to propose a restoration plan with the idea of mitigating the negative
environmental impacts on the lake’s ecosystem.

2. Description of the Environment

2.1. Characteristics of the Watershed and the Lake
Urmia lake watershed with an area of 51455 square kilometers is mainly located
between two provinces of West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan, Iran between 44.7° E
to 47.5° E and 35.40° N to 38.30° N. The area of this watershed constitutes around
3.2% of the country’s area. About 580 Km2 of the watershed is located in the territory
of Turkey and the remainder is located within political borders of Iran (Javanmard,
2003). Figure 1 shows the location of the lake in Iran and its location in comparison to
provinces of Iran.

▲ Provinces are separated by

white lines, the watersheds are
illustrated in different colors and
Urmia Lake watershed border is
highlighted with red line.
Figure 1: The location of Urmia Lake and the watershed.

1
In Persian “‫”اروﻣﻴﻪ‬, Formerly Lake Rezaiyeh. Other spellings like; Oromeeh, Orumiyeh, Oromieh and
Uromiyeh are also used in literatures.
The elevation in the watershed varies from 1276.5 to 3800 meters (based on mean sea
level at Persian Gulf). 65% of the whole area is mountainous, 24% is plains and 11%
is covered by the Urmia Lake and surrounding area (Senobar, 1993).
Urmia brackish lake with an average area of 5500 km2 is the second most brackish
water body in the world after Dead Sea. The average depth of the lake is around 6 m
and the mean water level of the lake is 1276.5m. This lake consists of a terrestrial and
an aquatic ecosystem. The terrestrial ecosystem is comprised of 102 islands with a
total area of 33486 ha. and surrounding shorelines of the Lake. Besides the lake and
rivers, several wetlands around the lake are the main habitats of wide diversity of
aquatic species.
This lake has been registered in Ramsar Convention (1971) and UNESCO Convention
(for Protection of the World Culture and Natural Heritage, 1972) due to its unique
characteristics and its importance as a destination of migratory birds. Lake Urmia is
also designated as a UNESCO biosphere reserve (1976) and as a national park
(SADRA, 2005).

2.2. Climate
The watershed generally has a cold weather. The annual average temperature in the
basin is about +10 degrees Celsius. However in mountainous regions it is reported
less than +6 degrees Celsius. From the climatologic point of view, the Urmia Lake is
consisted of semi dry climatic lands, Mediterranean, semi humid and humid climates.
Average annual precipitation is around 400 mm and the annual average evaporation is
about 1400 mm. The precipitation volume in the watershed is estimated to exceed 20
billion m3 per year. The maximum monthly rainfall in this basin occurs during April
and May (SADRA, 2003a). Variations of precipitation, evaporation and temperature
are presented in Figure 2.

2000 16

Precipitation (mm)
1800
14
Evaporation (mm)
Precipitation and Evaporation (mm)

1600
12 Temperature (C)

1400
Tempreature (°C)

10
1200

1000 8

800
6

600
4
400

2
200

0 0
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Figure 2: Annual Precipitation and Evaporation and Average Temperature at Urmia

Lake (Adopted from SADRA, 2003a & Namadmalian A. 2001).
2.3. Rivers
In a closed ecosystem such as Urmia Lake, the streams inflowing into the lake have a
very important role in the formation of ecological and hydrodynamic processes of the
lake. The rivers, while causing the water level variation of the lake, have a basic role
in salinity pattern inside the lake. Also, discharges of sediments carried by rivers have
an important role in establishing different morphology condition in different parts of
the lake (SADRA, 2003a).
Around 22 permanent (perennial) and seasonal (ephemeral) rivers provide the water
of Urmia Lake. Among them Zarinehrud, Siminehrud, Talkhehrud, Gadarchai,
Barandoozchai, Nazlochai and Mahabadchai are the main streams of the region
(SADRA, 2003a). Annual average flow rate and sediment discharge of rivers into the
lake are presented in Table 1. As it is shown most of rivers enter to the south part of
the lake. Average concentration of sediments in streams is also calculated and
presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Annual average flow rate and sediment discharge of rivers into the lake
(adopted from SADRA, 2003a).
Annual Average
Drainage Entrance Input
average concentration of
Rivers basin area loaction to sediment
yield sediments in
(km2) the lake (Ton)
(MCM*) Inflow (mg/L)
Zarrinehrud 11030 1983 S 1,116,880 563
Siminehrud 3368 628 S 350,410 558
Talkhehrud 8536 441 E 2,204,100 4,998
Gadarchai 1827 382 S 134,470 352
Barandoozchai 1250 263 W 112,080 426
Nazloochai 1965 244 NW 276,760 1,134
Mahabadchai 842 101 S 80,600 798
Sufichai 230 96 SE 93,600 975
Sharchai 670 90 W 42,437 472
Mardughchai 380 85 E 105,600 1,242
Ghalachai 430 58 S 38,200 659
Leilanchai 740 53 E 965,300 18,213
Other 4329 328 - NA -
Around of lake 8039 290 - - -
Surface of lake **7819 1358 - - -
Total 51455 6400 *** 5,320,437 831
* Million Cubic Meter
** Including islands
*** Total sediment discharged to the lake by mentioned river only.

2.4. Water Quality of the Lake

Urmia Lake has a unique condition due to its high-concentration of salt, variety of
sediments and especial ecological characteristics. The salt concentration in the lake
varies by time and location. Generally, the measured concentration is a function of
sampling location and depth, seasonal inflow from the rivers, seabed sources, and
intensity of precipitation. Based on available data, the recorded lake salinity (chloride)
varies from 87 to 275 gr/lit (SADRA, 2003a) while TDS varies between 180 to 420
gr/L. Also average pH of the lake is reported 8.6 (WARWA, 2006). Wide variations
of water quality parameters are basically due to changes in water volume of the lake
 due to consecutive climate changes during drought and wet years. But, in the recent
20 years growing of population and human activities in the region and consequently
increase in water consumption reduced the average of direct inflow to the lake
considerably. As a result the lake average salinity has been increased noticeably
(SADRA, 2003a). Electrical conductivity of the lake (as an index of chemical quality)
is presented in Figure 3 accompanied with water level fluctuation. Electrical
conductivity is presented for the period of 1965 to 2001 and the water level was
available from 1931. Interrelation between electrical conductivity and water level is
obvious from Figure 3. Also an increase trend in electrical conductivity can be
observed.
Conductivity (micro moses/cm2)

600000 1278.5

550000 Electrical Conductivity 1277.5

Water Level (m)

Min Water Level (m)
500000
Max Water Level (m) 1276.5
450000
1275.5
400000
1274.5
350000

300000 1273.5

250000 1272.5
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Figure 3: Variation of water level in Urmia Lake and mean EC of lake water (adopted
from Rezaei & Ahmadzadeh, 2001).

2.5. Flora and Fauna

2.5.1 Fauna
For a long time, islands of Urmia Lake and adjacent areas are one of the primary
destinations of migratory birds in Iran. Especially in spring and summer, Urmia Lake
turns into one of the largest venues for some kind of the birds. Rezvani, 2002 reported
many bird species from many different places come to the islands every year,
including:
• Flamingos, which reproduce in the islands of Urmia Lake in groups of 35 to
65 thousand (Rezvani, 2002). Their main source of food is the salty water
shrimp, artemia (Agh, 2002),
• White pelicans, with an exceeding number of 16,000 during egg laying season
in the nine islands in the south of Urmia Lake. They feed their chickens on the
fish caught in nearby fresh water rivers,
• Shelducks, which reproduce 5,000 to 10,000 couples each year,
• Silver kakaei, pink kakaei, ruddy shelduck and gray-foot geese.
In addition to these birds, mammals such as wild sheep (Ovis orientalis), wild goat
(Capra aegagrus) and Persian fallow deer (Damadama mesoptamica) occur in the
islands.
The aquatic ecosystem boasts little biodiversity due to its high salinity and limits its
living organisms to a brine shrimp (Artemia urmiana) which is one of the rare
bisexual species of Artemia and an algae (Entermorpha intestianalis). In Iran there are
14 natural resources of Artemia which only “A. urmiana” in Urmia Lake is bisexual
and the others are parthenogenetic strains (Hafezieh, 2002).
2.5.2. Flora
Urmia Lake islands possess the only natural survivors of Zagros mountain ranges.
Most of the vegetation is of forage, medicinal and industrial value with semi-forest
juniper, wild pistachio, wild almond, hackberry and some rangeland species (SADRA,
2005).
2.6. Land use
Ten different land uses can be identified in the vicinity of the lake including irrigated
and nonirrigated cropland, orchard, pasture and rangeland, forest, wetland, salty land,
marshes, rural areas, urban areas and surface waterbodies. Rangelands have the
vastest area around salty lands border around the lake. According to satellite data
analysis, salty lands, croplands (irrigated and nonirrigated) and orchards have
tremendously been increased since 1980 (SADRA, 2005).

3. Present and Future Development Plans in the Region

Development activities in the area could be divided into in-operation and under-
construction or planned activities. In-operation activities affecting the lake ecosystem
are:
• Industries: Tanning facilities in the north, Petrochemical plant in the west,
Sugar plant in the south,
• Dams: Bookan, Mahabad, Alavian, Nahand, Hasanloo (Javanmard, 2003),
• Tourist Facilities; Sharafkhaneh, Chichest,
• Roads: Urmia Lake causeway,
• Agricultures: Land transformation, water networks development (SADRA,
2005).

Under construction and future development plans in the area include:

• Construction of 16 dams (Javanmard, 2003),
• Construction of Urmia-Maragheh railroad,
• Widening of the causeway and construction a bridge on the opening,
• Construction of railroad on the causeway,
• Tunneling and road construction in Eslami Island2 located eastern coast of the
lake (SADRA, 2005).

4. Effects of development plans on the Lake

Today, the quality status of receiving water bodies and their pollution is understood in
a more comprehensive manner, expressed as integrity. In ecological interpretation,
integrity of a water body implies the ability of its ecological system to support and
maintain a balanced, integrated, adaptive community of organisms having a species
composition, diversity and functional organisms comparable to that of natural biota of
the region (Novotny, 2003). According to this definition, alternation of water body
integrity could be considered water degradation. Effects of various development

2
It is called island because in high water level it is surrounded by water.
projects on the integrity of water bodies are analyzed from this point of view. These
effects are studied in terms of the quality and quantity of the water bodies.

The water inflow to the lake and surrounding wetlands is directly affected by human
activities upstream. On average, the streams inflow to the lake is dramatically reduced
by the construction of water infrastructures to divert water for domestic, agricultural
and industrial use. Amount of reduction due to the present dams and utilization of
under construction dams is presented in Table 2 and Table 3. It is obvious that if these
dams and irrigation networks are utilized without reconsideration of environmental
concerns the water inflow to the lake would be decreased even more.

Table 2: Reduction in water input to the lake due to the present dams.
River name Reduction in water input (MCM)
1 Bookan NA
2 Mahabad NA
3 Alavian -30.6
4 Nahand -473.6
5 Hasanloo -270

Table 3: Reduction in water input to the lake due to utilization of future plans.
River name Reduction in water input (MCM)
1 Zolachai -72.61
2 Nazloochai -124
3 Sharchai -90
4 Barandoozchai -96.3
5 Siminehrud -176.3
6 Zarrinehrud -780.8
7 Sufichai -30.6
8 Ghalachai -65.6
9 Talkhehrud -473.6
10 Total 2270.5

Direct consequence of reduction in entering water would be water level drop off.
Since the Urmia Lake is a shallow lake with gently sloping shores around all edges
except on the west side, any small variations in the water level can greatly affect the
extent of the shorelines. Water surface variations during 1987 to 2002 are shown in
Figure 4. Based on presented graph in Figure 3, the water level of the lake has varied
from 1273.2 m to 1278 m during the 1987 to 2002 since the mean water level of the
lake is 1276.5 m during last 35 years (SADRA, 2003a).
 Figure 4: Variation of water level in Urmia Lake from 1987 to 2002 (SADRA, 2003b).

During low levels, the lake is difficult to approach because it is fringed by long and
sometimes quite odorous salty mud flats, which makes it less attractive for recreation.
Also with accumulation of salts over the ground, it is sometimes spread on farmlands
around the lake by the wind and consequently resulting in farmland lost. According to
data from Ministry of Agriculture, during drought period of 1998 to 2002, agricultural
detriment of this phenomenon was equivalent to 2,000,000 USD in West Azerbaijan.
(Hafezieh, 2004).

Water chemistry of the lake is highly dependent on the water fluctiouation of the lake
also. Recent and future decrease in inflow if coincide with a drought a disaster could
be expected. High salinity by decreasing phytoplankton densities can affect the
reproduction of Artemia. Meanwhile physiological mechanisms of Artemia
reproduction can be also affected (Hafezieh, 2004). Artemia is able to live in a great
range of salinity of water from 40 up to 300 gr/L. But any further increase in salinity
has a direct effect on the population of Artemia and Algae as the only bio-organisms
that can live in the salty water of Urmia Lake. (SADRA, 2003a). High salinity also
could cause birds’ death not only by decreasing of Artemia biomass as a food source
for birds but also by crystallizing feathers and eyes of birds and their inability in
seeing and flying and finally death (Hafezieh, 2004).
Rather than effects of water level fluctuation on water quality there are some other
important factors which are responsible for decrease of water quality and specifically
wetland degradation. It is shown in Figure 3 that although the minimum lake water
level occurred in 1962, maximum electrical conductivity has occurred in 2001. It is
known now that it is the direct consequence of the pollutant accumulation in the lake
(Rezaei & Ahmadzadeh, 2001). This has been due to the fact that there had been no
water quality control in Iran until 2000 when the new environmental legislations were
passed.

In West Azerbaijan, there is only one wastewater treatment plant operating in the
Urmia city and all other domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater produced in
cities, villages and tourist facilities finally ends up in the lake. Population increase in
recent two decades had intensified effects on all of the natural resources of the region.
Development in industries, tourist facilities, urbanization and agriculture in addition
to construction of the causeway has affected the quality of the lake and wetlands
irreversibly.

Farms and orchards are affecting the water quality through releasing fertilizers and
pesticides. Also even we were not able to quantify irrigation return flow, it is expected
to be a considerable portion of irrigation water because high concentration of salt in
the surface water resources and despite the high evaporation rate in this area. The
irrigation return flow is known one of the serious problems associated with diffuse
pollution from agriculture (Novotny, 2003). Meanwhile groundwater overdraft and
groundwater mining in coastal areas of the lake caused saltwater intrusion in some
areas like Ghaleh Chai Plain Aquifer (Sneobar, 1993) which is intensifying the
irrigation return flow problem.

Among the effective activities on quality of water, causeway has been responsible for
the most important unfavorable effects. This road has been constructed on the
narrowest part of the lake leading to the obstruction on natural water currents and
sedimentation regime and consequently high differences in the salinity of the two
halves of the lake.

The dominate cause of all mentioned pollutions problems can be referred to the poorly
designed water management plans without enough concern to protect the integrity of
the environment. The Urmia Lake is located between two provinces which each take
separate actions to supply water for domestic, industrial and agricultural use with no
attention to regional planning. This is probably one of the most important reasons for
what is happening to the lake and the surrounding wetlands.

5. Threats to the wetlands in Urmia Basin

Uromiyeh University, (2004) reported the results of a group discussion among some
provincial agencies and NGOs (as part of a training course) on the threats to the
wetlands of Urmia watershed (without any particular order):
1- Encroachment on wetlands by conversion for alternative land use.
2- Inadequate supply of water for wetland functioning.
3- Lack of adequate legislation (and execution regulations) for wetland conservation.
4- Non-established / declared wetland boundaries.
5- Natural threats (e.g. increasing salinity of the Urmia Lake, drought, and severe
floods).
6- Various types of pollutions.
7- Un-authorized utilization of wetland resources (e.g. Illegal hunting).
8- Implementation of development projects without good evaluation of the
environmental impact and lack of Environmental Impact Assessment.
9- Low level of public awareness on environmental values and functions.
10- Inadequate involvement of citizens in decision making process.
11- Lack of coordination between different governmental organizations.
12- Increase in sediment load of rivers (due to erosion).
13- Intrusion of non-native / invasive species.
14- Expansion of human activities in the upstream catchment.

6. Outline of the Mitigation Plans

The main goal of the proposed plans is to retain the vulnerable ecosystem of the lake
and surrounding wetlands and to reduce water resources pollution and to monitor the
changes. This objective could not be achieved without considering the effects of
current development projects on the environment beside socioeconomic aspects.
Environmental concerns are addressed providing plans for improvement or
restructuring the design process of new projects. Different plans and ideas reports by
Novotny (2003), Maknoun (2000), Maknoun & Moradi (2001) and Karamouz &
Zahraie (2001) are considered. Outline of the plans under the following categorization
are proposed and summarized as follows:

6.1. Non-water related amendments

• Addition of an extra opening on Urmia side of causeway to recover the natural
state of the lake.
• Development of a comprehensive national park plan for the Lake (zoning
different parts of the lake in order to achieve rational utilization).

6.2. Source Reduction

• Reduction of agricultural pollutants such as fertilizers, herbicides, and
pesticides by changing the pattern of use and encourage farmers to use
chemical products which cause less water pollution.
• Subsidizing industries to implement wastewater treatment facilities.
• Development of wastewater collection networks and treatment plants for
towns/villages around the Urmia Lake.

6.3. Demand Management and Capacity Expansion

• Increase of irrigation efficiency by subsidizing the implementation of
mechanical facilities and different methods of dripping and pressurized
irrigation.
• Development of an integrated water quality and quantity management plan for
Urmia Lake Basin especially for dams outflow.
 • Promotion of a comprehensive Water Management Plan instead of two
separate regional plans.
• Study and implementation of an artificial groundwater recharge especially in
the areas with low water level to control groundwater level in upland plains.

6.4. Human Resources Development

• Capacity building, establishment of new branches of Environmental Protection
Agency in different cities in two provinces and training their staff.
• Offering environmental awareness workshops for farmers.
• Producing documentary television and other mass media programs about water
pollution, its impact on the environment and the importance of Urmia Lake
ecosystem.

6.5. Monitoring and Sampling Network

• Expansion of existing network for quality and quantity monitoring and
sampling from surface and groundwater resources in the study area.
• Development of a program for sampling of industrial wastewater in the basin.
• Establishment of an ecological monitoring and sampling network to record the
ecological changes in different zones of the lake and the watershed area.
• Development of a thorough sampling campaign in order to monitor the
wildlife of Urmia National Park.

6.6. Research and Technology Transfer

• Studying effects of pesticides and herbicides on rivers water quality.
• Development of an integrated lake water quality and quantity model.
• Integrated study of quality and quantity of water resources in the study area.

6.7. Institutional Changes and Improvement of Legal Framework

• Establishment of environmental offices in all of the water related agencies.
• Establishment of a system for integrating governmental agencies in both
Provinces.
• Revising the duties of different agencies related to environmental protection.

7. Conclusion
The Urmia Lake has a very high salinity because it is a closed basin. Feeder rivers
deposit around 5.2 million tons of minerals in it each year; the balance of evaporated
water is mineral-free, concentrating the lake further. The presented evidences indicate
that the water inflow to the lake is also substantially decreased and will be decreased
more in the near future due to dams and irrigation networks construction.
Furthermore, the construction of the causeway, introduction of industrial wastes into
the lake and the increase in the area of the farmlands have led to a drastic reduction in
the surface water quality. Considering the dry years in the area, an unpromising
destiny could be expected for the lake and surrounding wetlands if the present trend
continues. In order to conserve this unique ecosystem, sound management and
restoration plans are undoubtedly required.
To implement proposed plans the cooperation of not only Iranian governmental
agencies such as the Department of the Environment, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of
Agriculture and Ministry of Roads and Transportation but also national and local
NGOs and all citizens are necessary. Technical and financial assistance from
international organizations committed to environmental protection and sustainable
development could be helpful in the challenges of decision makers in balancing the
use of natural resources with maintaining economic and social development.
Commitment, planning and immediate actions are essential and desperately needed to
begin restoring this important major lake and the varied wildlife that depends on it.

Acknowledgment
This study was done in the Faculty of Environmental at University of Tehran.
Contribution of Dr. M. Tajvidi Professor of Faculty of Natural Science at University
of Tehran is hereby acknowledged.

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