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Saving a Dying Lake is A Priority for Iranian Leader
Lake Oroumieh, one of the biggest saltwater lakes on Earth, has shrunk more than 80 percent to 1,000 square kilometers in the past decade. Under Iran’s new president, the first cabinet decision made was about keeping the nation’s largest lake from disappearing.
Climate change, expanded irrigation for surrounding farms and the damming of rivers that feed the body of water have caused the decline. Salt-covered rocks that were once deep underwater now sit in the middle of the desert.
Twenty proposals are on the table for saving the lake, including cloud-seeding to increase rainfall in the area and the building of pipelines to bring in more water. Experts have also proposed the creation of other industries to reduce reliance on agricultural water.
The government has already begun a project to raise public awareness and encourage farmers to abandon wasteful practices and adopt drip irrigation systems that save water. It is also urging farmers to switch to less-thirsty crops. Wheat and pistachios, for example, use less water than sugar beets.
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