TEHRAN – The current water level of Lake Urmia stands at 1270.09 meters, indicating a fifty-one-centimeter decline compared to the same time last year.

In comparison to the long-term average, it has dropped by 420 centimeters, IRNA quoted Yousef Ghaffarzadeh, an official with West Azarbaijan Water Company, as saying. 

The volume of Lake Urmia has decreased from 1.44 billion cubic meters in the year 1403 (March 2024-March 2025) to 1.14 bcm in the current Iranian year, which started in March 2025. Compared to the long-term average, the amount has decreased by 15.19 bcm.

The Lake needs a minimum annual water intake of 3.1 billion cubic meters to maintain a healthy ecosystem and ecological function. In case this water inflow is provided, the level of the lake is expected to reach 1274.1 meters in the long term, the official noted.

Since the beginning of the current water year, September 2024, the volume of water in aquifers of the province has decreased by 63 million cubic meters due to a drop in precipitation and rainfall. Currently, the cumulative groundwater deficit across the province amounts to 5.1 billion cubic meters, Ghaffarzadeh added.

Restoration efforts

Through a joint project led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded by the Government of Japan, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is going to join to promote sustainable agricultural practices and solutions for the conservation of Lake Urmia.

On December 1, 2024, the Government of Japan and UNDP signed an exchange of notes to launch “The Project for Developing Conservation Systems of Wetlands in Lake Urmia and Other Wetlands, Including
Their Surrounding Communities.” The project, which runs from 2024 to 2028, will be implemented in partnership with the Department of Environment and FAO.

Focusing on sustainable agriculture and climate-adapted livelihoods, the initiative seeks to deliver long-term benefits for local communities while preserving the biodiversity of wetlands as critical ecosystems.

Lake Urmia faces significant challenges due to the overconsumption of water resources, magnified by climate change impacts, which have severely impacted its ecosystem. 

Agricultural activities in the region are increasingly vulnerable to water shortages, a situation exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Studies indicate that these climatic changes could further disrupt agrifood systems and the lake’s fragile environment in the future.

FAO, with the support of the government of Japan, identified technical agricultural solutions to increase water efficiency in the agriculture sector at the Lake Urmia basin, which may be efficient in saving the internationally recognized biosphere reserves.

MT/MG