Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 19
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran has prepared a plan, based on which the country will import water from Georgia and Armenia to revive the dying Lake Urmia, in turn for exporting oil and gas to the mentioned countries.
Iranian MP Ali Alilou said that reviving Lake Urmia through transferring water from Georgia and Armenia is justified, considering the water shortage crisis in the country, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on September 19.
The project's investor has been selected, he said, adding that the project will be implemented over the course of two years.
"Based on the project, 60 cubic meters of water per second will be transferred to Lake Urmia. In return, Iran will sell Georgia added-value oil and gas products," he explained.
Lake Urmia is in the northwest of Iran. Over 70 percent of its area has dried up. The level has been declining since 1995. Its area is about 6,000 square kilometers. Lake Urmia needs 3.1 billion cubic meters of water per year to survive.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has set up a working group for saving Lake Urmia. The committee prepared a 9-year plan to restore the lake, with 2023 being the year targeted for the lake's complete restoration.
However, some Iranian experts believe that the most efficient measures in reviving the lake such as prohibiting unauthorized use of surface and groundwater, limiting groundwater use by local farmers and transferring water from other catchments including the Araz River are impractical and will lead to serious social tensions.