Iran's Dam Policy and the Case of the Lake Urmia

Ercan Ayboğa & Akgün Ilhan

Iran is one of the states with the highest rate of dam construction worldwide in the recent
years. The construction of hundreds of dams on rivers combined with a non-participative and
non-democratic approach has lead to numerous ecological, social, cultural and political
problems and conflicts in the past years. There is much public criticism over the intense dam
building policy about these impacts. In particular, the case of the Lake Urmia has led to hot
debates and many protests within the Iranian society regarding the destructive dams in the
country.

Introduction

The first dam constructions started in Iran in the 1950s. Before the Islamic Revolution in 1979,
only fourteen large dams were built, usually with the dominant involvement of foreign banks
and companies. After the establishment of the new political system, particularly after the end
of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, the dam building activities have intensified significantly. Today Iran
has achieved the capacity to build small and middle large dams without any foreign
participation. The objectives of dam building in Iran are mainly the hydroelectricity, irrigation
and drinking water supply at which the two latter reasons are less dominant than the first one.
Untill now the construction of 541 small and large dams 1 have been completed2. While in 2007
totally large and small 88 dams were under construction in Iran 3, this number increased in 2011
up to 135 dams and 546 dams were in the planning phase 4. On average, close to two billion
cubic meters of water are added to the country’s water reserves annually. In end of 2011 the
storage of dam reservoirs has rached the capacity of 65 billion cubic meters. These figures
show that there are plans to impound almost all rivers in Iran which carry regulary water.

Rivers in Iran

The most and big rivers in Iran are situated in the north and west because the highest
precipitation occurs here where are long and high mountain chains parallel to the borders.
Almost all emerging rivers flow out of the borders, either to neighbouring countries or to the
sea and not into the centre which is a high plain. The centre and (south-)east of the country is
mainly half or full desert with a very low precipitation.

The most known and big rivers in Iran are the Aras and Karun Rivers. Aras comes from Turkey
in the very northwest and composes a border river with Azerbaijan for the most stretch. That is
why it could not be “used” entirely by the Iranian State. But the Karun River, which is the most
effluent (at the end 575 m3/sec, 950 km long) and the only navigable one, flows from the
Zagros mountains in the southern province Khuzistan into the Persian Gulf and has been
utilized almost fully. On the Karun River are the biggest dams within the Iranian state built for
hydro-energy production, and more in the lower parts water is diverted for the irrigation of big
areas (280.000 hectares).

On the northern side of the north mountain chain along the Caspian Sea with high precipitation
originate many rivers which have all short lengths. There are several bigger rivers which spring
from the Zagros Mountains the west of the state, namely in the provinces Kurdistan,
Kermanshah and Elam, and flow towards Iraq where they join the Tigris River. Many rivers are
born in the southern part of the Zagros Mountains flow into the Persian Gulf, like the Karun
River. Some bigger rivers originate from the mountain chains of the north and west to the arid
central plain where they dry out. The second inner basin of Iran is the Lake Urmia basin in the
northwest of the country. Several small, middle and some big rivers flow into the biggest lake of
Iran. Some less and middle large rivers are shared in the east with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Developing of water infrastructures in the history

As a semi-arid geography (except the green coastal areas at the Caspian Sea which meet not
more than 10% of the whole area) the water culture in Iran was throughout the history a crucial
aspect in developing human settlements and civilizations. Due to scarce water resources a

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specialized knowledge in water infrastructures has been developed. With limited water
resources areas in half desert regions could be populated. Crucial structures were water canals,
but particularly qanats. Qanats are horizontal water tunnels which bring ground water from
mountains to settlements at the border to desert areas. There are qanats also in other
countries of the Middle East, but the most developed and imposant qanats can be found in Iran.

Iran's Dam Policy

In the Iranian state the Ministry for Energy is the responsible body for the management of
water resources. Here the decisions are taken about the construction of water infrastructures
like dams. In end of 80'ies the Iranian state started to plan the systematic construction of water
infrastructures likes dams, hydroelectric power plants and water diversions wherever rivers
flow. The state planned these water infrastructures based on a technical and profit approach
without to take into consideration cultural and natural heritage and human settlements. The
continuous increase in electricity consumption and the growing need for more food and
drinking water for cities were some of the strong arguments behind “developing” water
resources.

The plans for the construction of dams are made by the central government, often in
cooperation with the provincial governments which are dependant from the central
government. There is no any public and free discussion pssoible about the dam policy and the
connected electricity, irrigation/agriculture, water supply and development policies.
Considering that the governments are not elected in a real democratic way and there is no real
critic is possible, the discrepancy between the population and governing institutions has
become always bigger. This leads to a big difference in the real needs of the population and the
interests of the governments.

Destruction of the Lake Urmia

A growing and diversifying social debate has been going on over the issue of Iran’s dam policy
and, in particular, the impacts of dams constructed on the 13 rivers that feed the Lake Urmia.
This endorheic lake is situated in the province west Azerbaijan in Northwest Iran. The basin has
an area totalling 51.876km2 and covers 3 provinces which are the West, the East Azerbaijan
and the Kurdistan provinces. It extends to a length of some 140 km and a width of 85 km 5. The
average surface of the lake area used to be 5100 km 2. However, now a large portion of it is
lost. The Urmia Lake, in its original size, is considered as the largest hyper saline lake in the
Middle East. The basin has a population of around 6.4 million people and an estimated 76
million people live within a radius of 500 km6.

The Lake Urmia in 1985 August (left) and in 2010 August (right)

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There are 39 dams either constructed or planned over the rivers flowing into the Lake Urmia,
mainly for the purpose of irrigation. As water became more available, many farmers switched
from subsistence to intensive agriculture. This shift in agricultural production created
increasing pressure on not only surface water, but also underground water resources, over
which the Iranian Government has almost no control. 94% of water demand is allocated to
agriculture7. Farmers in Sulduz, a traditional town by the lake, indicate that only a decade ago
they could extract water from wells of 30-40 meter deep. Now even at 70 meters deep, they
cannot reach any water8. Furthermore the use of inappropriate irrigation practices drops water
use efficiency down to 30% 9 which is very low and results in skyrocketing levels of agricultural
water consumption. In addition, droughts since 1990s did not help the situation. However, the
first signs of the problem started about four decades ago as the surface of the lake started to
decrease. Once a surface of 5278 km 2 of lake (1976) shrank to 3108 km 2 (2009) 10. In beginning
of 2012 the lake lost more than 65% of its surface area 11. Within the last decade, the maximum
depth of the lake fell from 12 to 6 metres 12. Another significant negative impact was due to a
bridge built over the lake in 2008. This infrastructure cuts the lake almost in two equal two
parts and lets no water flow from one to another which is crucial for the functions of the lake
ecosystem. As water circulation in the lake is impeded, there has been a dramatic increase in
water salinity13. In terms of other parameters of water quality, the situation is no better. Due to
lack of water treatment facilities and municipal control, the lake is used entirely as the common
sink of urban, agricultural and industrial entities around.

An old ship, once upon a time on lake, now on salt concentration

Naturally, these circumstances pose a great danger towards not only humans, but also
biodiversity within the Urmia Basin. The basin is the habitat of some 212 species of birds such
as flamingo and pelican, 41 reptiles, 7 amphibians and 27 mammals such as the Iranian yellow
dear. The lake is also known for its medical effects, especially for curing Rheumatism and
Arthritis. Because of many other reasons, as well as these, the Urmia is listed as a wetland of
international importance under the Ramsar Convention 14 since 1971 and UNESCO Biosphere
Reserve15 since 1976. However, neither of these has yet saved this great natural heritage of
humanity from perishing. Recent studies foresee that the shrivelling of the Urmia will continue
and that the survival probability within the next ten years is only around 64% 16.

Greater concerns are at stake for the Middle East

It is estimated that 8 billion tons of salt is concentrated at the bottom of the Lake Urmia. With
wind and storm such amount of salt can be carried away and create serious levels of wind-
borne salt toxicity on both directly humans and agricultural production within the radius of 500
km around the lake. Many ecologists, activists and the Iranian officials warn that if the Lake
Urmia dries up an ecological catastrophe is inevitable not only for the settlements around the
lake, but also in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq and Turkey. The unforeseen consequences of such a
large scale ecological disaster might trigger a colossal migration and trigger many conflicts
among the states of the Middle East.
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People protesting: “Let’s go to the Lake Urmia and fill it up with our tears”

Even though the Lake Urmia started to shrivel in the 1970s, it could attract the attention of
media only in 1990s. The deterioration of the lake was undeniable. The lake was not only
shrinking, but also being heavily contaminated. The survival of many basin communities was at
stake. Many had to migrate to large cities such as Tabriz. Some resisted to the increasing
impoverishment. It was only in the 2000s when the social problems clustered around the issue
of the lake were first pronounced. Guntay, a young Azeri man from Tabriz, indicates that the
first time he and his friends brought the issue of Lake Urmia was about ten years ago in an
exhibition. “We exposed the photos of dead flamingos in the lake to say that it was dying”.

A poster calling for action for Urmia - The Lake Urmia calls us and says if you hear: “I am thirsty”

Numerous protests went on with larger participation of both the inhabitants of the region and
the environmentalists from different parts of Iran. One was in 2009 when people held an
interesting symbolic protest which consisted of pouring a bottle of water into the lake that
represents their tear drops for what has been happening to their lake. Around 150 people were
arrested and some of them were put in prison for years. A year later another large protest
action took place in Tabriz on Nature’s Day, at the end of which the Iranian Police arrested
some 70 protesters. In another protest in 2011 thousands of people from Tabriz and Urmia were
on the streets protesting the Iranian government for not taking the necessary measures to save
the lake. This peaceful action was confronted with repression by the Iranian security forces
whose result was the death of two protestors and the detention of dozens of citizens.
Afterwards, the Iranian State prohibited any news regarding the situation of the Lake Urmia.

The Dam on the Sheher River which is one of the rivers that feeds the Lake Urmia

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Another recent action took place in the Cities of Urmia and Tabriz in May 2012. With a poster,
the protesters were asking the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “Is the crisis of Urmia
less important than the Nuclear Crisis of Iran?”. The answer to that question was the detention
of some hundred protesters some of which are still in prison and some others free at the cost of
heavy fines. On the Environment Day, 5th of June 2012 the Iranian Government’s reluctance to
take necessary measures to save the Lake Urmia was protested by many all around the world.
Baku, Calgary and Waterloo were among the cities where such protests took place.

After all, the Iranian Government has finally been more open to accepting that there are
problems with the Lake Urmia. The Iranian Government’s insistence on explaining the current
status of the Lake with only global climate has been coming to an end. Now, a number of
solutions are being discussed and formulated within academic and civil society circles. Some
these suggest releasing more water from dam reservoirs and thus limiting irrigation, removing
some dams on the rivers that feed the Lake Urmia 17 and some projects for taking water from
other rivers like the Zab or Araz Rivers to revive the lake and even the Caspian Sea 18. While the
first two proposals make sense, the last proposal is highly discussed among the critics and
would shift water mismanagement problems. However, the words of the head of Iranian State
General Inspection Organization Mr. Mohammadi’s after the protests of the World Environment
Day in Tabriz are significant: “If the experts in the province believe that a crisis of Lake Urmia is
so serious, then we should start from the province itself; province should stop mismanagement
of the funds and dedicate some of the budget to solve Lake Urmia's problem”. He also adds:
“The province should not be waiting for the national budget and if there is any crisis they
should assign some of the province’s budget for this issue”. The people of the Lake Urmia, once
more, seem to be left alone to solve a regional scale problem that would affect many others.

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1
Large dams are defined as being over 15m high. The definition also includes dams between 5-15m high with a
reservoir exceeding 3 million m3.
2
See website of Icold – International Commission of Large Dams: http://www.icold-
cigb.org/GB/World_register/general_synthesis.asp?IDA=206
3
Iran Daily – Domestic Economy, 23rd July 2007.
4
See Ministry of Energy News Agency, 26th October 2011: http://news.moe.org.ir/vdcdzf0s.yt0f56me2y.html
5
UNEP (2012). Thematic Focus: Climate Change, Resource Efficiency, Ecosystem Management, and Environmental
Governance. http://na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=79
6
SEDAC (2010). Gridded Population of the World: Future Estimates. Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center
(SEDAC) in collaboration with CIESIN, UN-FAO, CIAT.
7
WWA/Yekom (2005). The Environmental Impact Assessment and study (quality and quantity) of the Development Pro-
jects in the Lake Uromiyeh Basin, The West Azerbaijan Water Authority (WWA), Ministry of Energy (MoE).
8
Unstructured interviews held with the inhabitants of the town of Sulduz (May, 2012).
9
Hashemi, M. (2008) An Independent Review: The Status of Water Resources in the Lake Uromiyeh Basin. A Synthesis
Report for the GEF/UNDP Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences,
Newcastle University, England, UK.
10
Reveshty, Mohsen Ahadnejad; Maruyama, Yoshihisa (2010): Study of Lake Urmia Level Fluctuations. Study of Lake
Urmia Level Fluctuations and Predict Probable Changes using Multi-Temporal Satellite Images and Ground Truth
Data Period (1976-2010). http://lake-urmia.blogspot.com/2010/12/study-of-lake-urmia-level-fluctuations.html
(accessed May 26, 2011)
11
Lake Urmia Conservation Insitute http://www.saveurmia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/poster_2012.png
12
Lake Urmia Conservation Insitute http://www.saveurmia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/poster_2012.png
13
The water salinity in the lake Urmia rose from 220 to 380 mg/lt.
14
Lake Urmia Conservation Insitute http://www.saveurmia.com/take-action/campaign-statement/
15
See profilie at website of Unesco Biosphere Reserve Directory:
http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?mode=gen&code=IRA+07 (accessed May 25, 2011)
16
Reveshty, Mohsen Ahadnejad; Maruyama, Yoshihisa (2010): Study of Lake Urmia Level Fluctuations. Study of Lake
Urmia Level Fluctuations and Predict Probable Changes using Multi-Temporal Satellite Images and Ground Truth
Data Period (1976-2010). http://lake-urmia.blogspot.com/2010/12/study-of-lake-urmia-level-fluctuations.html
(accessed May 26, 2011)
17
Khosravifard, Sam (2010): Campaigners Fear Lake Urmia Drying Up. Payvand Iran News. April 30, 2010.
http://www.payvand.com/news/10/apr/1297.html (Accessed May 19, 2011)
18
Djafarov, T. (2011). "Water transfer of Araz River to Lake Urmia is discussed between Iran and Azerbaijan" Trend
News Agency 26 December 2011. Accessed February 8, 2012 at: http://pda.trend.az/en/1973742.html.