Salt Extraction from Lake Urmia: Environmental Profit or Loss?

Firouzeh Ramazanzadeh - Radio Zamaneh - September 4, 2015

Lake Urmia, which is now 75% dry, is facing a new problem: large-scale salt extraction, which has led to the destruction of the lake and the conversion of crystallized salt into dust storms.

While government officials consider the 15 billion tons of salt in Lake Urmia as an inexhaustible resource that can meet some industrial and food needs and create jobs for the region's youth, opponents of salt extraction from the lake argue that industrial-scale extraction of wet salt from the degraded bed of Lake Urmia for the massive profits of the extractors has disrupted the ecological balance of the lake.

It is said that salt extraction is causing the destruction of the lakebed and the conversion of crystallized salt into dust, which disperses and ultimately results in salt storms that bring irreparable damage to public health, agricultural soil salinity, and the environment.

Lake Urmia is at risk of completely drying up, and by July 2013, more than 75% of its water had already dried up.

Night-time Extraction of 500 Loaders of Salt

Despite the fact that the Department of Environment, one of the main members of the Lake Urmia Restoration Task Force, announced that no permits for salt extraction were issued in 2015, evidence shows that excessive salt extraction continued during the eleventh government’s term.

According to information released in a letter by Amir Khaliyan, head of the East Azerbaijan Provincial Audit Court, published on the Anaaj news portal, of the 290,000 tons of salt extraction permits issued, 188,000 tons of salt have already been extracted from the Aq Gombed area located in the eastern part of Lake Urmia.

"Every night, more than 500 loaders are extracting salt from the bottom of Lake Urmia in East Azerbaijan," part of a conversation with Nader Qazi Pour, the representative of Urmia, which was published by the Neday Urmia website in July 2014.

Although he is now opposed to salt extraction from Lake Urmia, in December 2012, he suggested to local farmers that other salt mines in the country be closed, and salt extraction from Lake Urmia should be prioritized to transform the lake into a beautiful botanical and zoological park within five years by pouring 95% sand and 5% gravel to a height of 10 cm.

Evidence suggests that environmental officials, aligned with salt extractors, also support the large economic income and profits from salt extraction.

Among these is the statement of Parviz Pirasteh, director of the Environmental Protection Organization of West Azerbaijan, regarding the relationship between salt extraction and the drying of Lake Urmia. In May 2015, he told the Anaaj website: "As the water decreases, we have excess salt, and it's better if we remove it."

On the other hand, Bahram Taheri, the Minister of Energy’s advisor on safety, health, and environmental management, stated that the salt of Lake Urmia should be extracted, calling its value nearly 100 billion dollars.

Lake Urmia Restoration Task Force and Improper Salt Extraction

Nearly two years have passed since the formation of the Lake Urmia Restoration Task Force, but have its practical actions led to any positive results for the restoration of the lake?

Iman Mahdizadeh, an environmental and agricultural journalist based in Tehran, tells Radio Zamaneh: "With all the budget at its disposal, why is the Lake Urmia Restoration Task Force still active? This task force was only created to define projects for the influential people."

The journalist adds: "Unfortunately, Mr. Kalantari (Secretary of the Lake Urmia Restoration Task Force) had no answer to my question, and the editor-in-chief, who was an old friend of his, did not allow it to be published. My question was about how much budget had been allocated for compensating local communities who are losing their livelihoods. He consulted with his advisers and said, 'It’s not defined in our budget. The governorates should handle this under natural disaster and crisis management.'"

Khosrow Bandari, a specialist in water resources and agricultural development projects, comments on salt extraction from Lake Urmia: "Before the Islamic Republic era, salt extraction from the shores of Lake Urmia and from the salt mines in the Salt Domes was common."

Hussein, a student citizen living in Urmia, tells Radio Zamaneh that salt extraction is currently taking place rapidly in areas of the lake closer to the main road.

According to this student, machines like loaders, backhoes, and dump trucks are extracting salt from the lake, which has now turned into a salt flat near the bypass from Tabriz.

He adds that his efforts to photograph the salt extraction areas have been thwarted by the extractors, who are likely linked to powerful authorities. Interestingly, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization in the province recently stated that no one had been granted permission to extract salt.

New waves of migration are among the negative consequences resulting from the drying up of Lake Urmia.

However, Mahdizadeh believes that the salt extraction is mostly carried out by villagers, who work for individuals from the city, and these city-dwellers buy the salt from the villagers. He continues by saying, "Historically, the Turks from the Van region used to come and take salt for medicinal purposes, but since 2008, when the lake began drying up, they started extracting mud in bags and transporting it to Turkey using trucks."

On the other hand, Khosrow Bandari, noting that salt extraction from Lake Urmia had not been on such a large scale in the past, says that local people used to extract small amounts of salt with permission. This was because when the lake had water, it had a type of saline mud beneficial for certain skin diseases. However, when the lake dried up, this source of salt exploitation ceased, and excessive salt extraction began instead.

Lake Urmia as a Major Dust Source in the Middle East

According to Khalil Saei, director of the Crisis Management Department of East Azerbaijan, Lake Urmia has now become one of the primary sources of dust storms in the Middle East, with these salty dust storms potentially affecting the region within a 500 km radius. Can salt extraction from the lake's bed, with its economic justification, also have an environmental justification?

Environmental experts have repeatedly warned about the consequences of industrial salt extraction from the dried bed of Lake Urmia, stating that it could lead to the phenomenon of salty dust storms, which would be harmful to human health and the environmental factors of the region, including water, soil, vegetation, and wildlife.

Khosrow Bandari, the former manager of the Aji Chay project, explains: "The important issue is that salt extraction is happening recklessly. This has caused the spread of salty dust towards the city of Tabriz and the Tabriz plain for several years, and this situation is worsening with the drying of the lake."

He adds, "Salt extractors should, like in the past, receive permits from the Ministry of Industries and Mines. Even if permits are issued, there is no supervision. After daily salt extraction, they should immediately sprinkle water on the areas where salt has been extracted using water tankers, which would help crystallize the surface and prevent the movement of salty dust. Unfortunately, this is not done, and this kind of extraction is harmful to people's health."

Bandari highlights the salt's properties, explaining that when rain or moisture settles on its surface, it forms salt crystals or sheets. This phenomenon prevents the crystals from being moved by the wind. He continues, "When bulldozers remove these salt sheets, they essentially destroy the crystal surface, which in turn causes a huge spread of salty dust over the Tabriz plain, particularly in residential areas, which is harmful to the health of people in Tabriz and the surrounding villages."

Mahdizadeh, a journalist living in Tehran, refers to the ecosystem changes in Lake Urmia, saying, "One day, as I was traveling by boat from Urmia to Tabriz, I saw wild goats and sheep on the islands of the lake. But due to multiple destructive factors, most of which were managerial, now I witness the disappearance of migratory birds and the lake being plundered for salt."

According to this journalist, the salty winds have caused the soil to deteriorate, leading to dried gardens and prompting migration. "The evacuation of 50 villages due to the salinity of Lake Urmia's water" is a point raised by Nader Qazipur, the representative of Urmia, in his statements.

Some experts attribute the salt domes in the Aji Chay watershed as one of the main reasons for the increasing salinity of Lake Urmia’s water.

Khosrow Bandari, in this regard, says, "The Aji Chay River or Talkeh River is very salty. The reason for its salinity is that just before entering the Tabriz plain, it passes over salt domes."

He considers salt domes to be among the oldest geological formations and adds, "The Aji Chay River, which originates from Serab, becomes saline when it passes over these salt domes."

According to the former manager of the Aji Chay project, these salt domes contain salty springs that release rainwater into the river, which eventually joins the river. The river, having passed over salty beds, flows into Lake Urmia.

Bandari notes that even though a small amount of the Aji Chay River water still enters Lake Urmia, it remains highly saline. This salty water has been the source of the lake’s salinity for thousands of years.

During the spring floods and heavy rains, when the water is still not very salty, people divert it for irrigation on their lands. They water their fields once or twice and stop, and when the water flow decreases, the salty springs start working again, contributing highly saline water, albeit in small amounts, into Lake Urmia.

According to reports from Iranian news sources, Lake Urmia is at risk of completely drying up, with more than 75% of its water having dried up by July 2013.

The transformation of Lake Urmia into a dust storm center in the Middle East, the occurrence of salty storms, the increase in skin, respiratory, and cancer diseases, the destruction of agricultural lands, the significant decrease in thermal capacity in the region, and new waves of migration are among the negative consequences of the lake's drying.

In December of the previous year, 118 university professors in Iran wrote in a letter to President Hassan Rouhani that the salvation of this lake is only possible by restoring the Urmia basin, but news continues to emerge, worrying about the serious pursuit of transferring water from the Caspian Sea to Lake Urmia, which they argue is "against collective wisdom" and, if executed, will lead to the squandering of public funds, severe environmental destruction, and leaving an ecological footprint without solving the lake's issues.

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Original article in Farsi - Radio Zamaneh