Arcdh
The newest statistics released by the Urmia Lake Restoration Program the level of this lake has decreased by 13 cm compared to the same as the previous year and in the long term, it has decreased by 3 meters and 15 cm.
Last week, Mr. Sergey Kud-Sverchkov a russian astronaut released three images of Lake Urmia on his Instagram.
He also wrote: “It has significantly changed its size, while not so long ago it was the largest salt reservoir in the Middle East. For example, in comparison with 1984, the reservoir decreased by 70%, and initially it occupied an area of about 6 square kilometers. Urmia is located between Western and Eastern Azerbaijan.
After the shallowing began, the depths of the lake also began to change. Earlier the maximum depth of the lake reached 16 m, while recent observations show the depths of just over 3 m. Moreover, the depth has changed largely due to the deposition of salts and mineral particles at the bottom of the lake.”
Lake Urmia was the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth. It is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan.
By late 2017, the lake had shrunk to 10% of its former size (and 1/60 of water volume in 1998) due to persistent general drought in Iran, but also the damming of the local rivers that flow into it, and the pumping of groundwater from the surrounding area.