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Water Flows Toward Power:Socioecological Degradation of LakeUrmia, IranAzad Henareh Khalyani a b , Audrey L. Mayer c & Emma S. Norman da Department of Applied Ecology , North Carolina State University ,Raleigh , North Carolina , USAb International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service ,San Juan , Puerto Ricoc School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science , MichiganTechnological University , Houghton , Michigan , USAd Department of Social Sciences , Michigan Technological University ,Houghton , Michigan , USAPublished online: 03 Jun 2014.

To cite this article: Azad Henareh Khalyani , Audrey L. Mayer & Emma S. Norman (2014): Water FlowsToward Power: Socioecological Degradation of Lake Urmia, Iran, Society & Natural Resources: AnInternational Journal

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Insights and Applications

Water Flows Toward Power: SocioecologicalDegradation of Lake Urmia, Iran

AZAD HENAREH KHALYANI

Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University,Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, and International Institute ofTropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, San Juan, Puerto Rico

AUDREY L. MAYER

School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, MichiganTechnological University, Houghton, Michigan, USA

EMMA S. NORMAN

Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University,Houghton, Michigan, USA

Water is an invaluable resource, and equitable access to it is a fundamental humanright. Disenfranchised groups often lose access to water resources because theirinterests are not well represented by decision makers. Excluding these groups fromresource management policy often results in myopic decisions that contribute tofurther ecosystem damage. We describe the ecological degradation of Lake Urmiain Iran, which has recently experienced increased salinity and declining water quan-tity. The lake is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and Ramsar site, and supportsunique biodiversity in the region. The lake’s decline is driven by the destruction ofZagros forests and the government’s water policies, which diverted water to morepolitically connected agricultural land users, increasing social inequity and prompt-ing more deforestation. The most straightforward restoration solution is to discon-tinue the diversions and allow critical inflows to recharge Lake Urmia, preservingthe lake and wetlands for migratory birds, tourists, and local communities.

Keywords controversial environmental issues, indigenous peoples, Iran, LakeUrmia, Middle East, political ecology, restoration, saline lakes, water allocationand conservation, water governance

Water is an invaluable resource, and equitable access to it is a fundamental human right.Limited access to water may cause conflict within and among countries, especiallyas global climate change increases drought and water scarcity (Vorosmarty et al.

Received 1 January 2013; accepted 20 July 2013.Address correspondence to Azad Henareh Khalyani, International Institute of Tropical

Forestry, USDA Forest Service, Jardin Botanico Sur, 1201 Calle Ceiba, San Juan, PR00926-1115. E-mail: ahenare@ncsu.edu

Society and Natural Resources, 0:1–9Copyright # 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 0894-1920 print=1521-0723 onlineDOI: 10.1080/08941920.2014.905890

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2010). Exacerbating the issue, disenfranchised groups (e.g., women, ethnic minorities,rural and indigenous communities) often lose access to water and water-dependentresources because their interests are not well represented by governments and decisionmakers (Jones 2012; McCormick 2010; Phelan Hand 2007). Sustainable resourcegovernance cannot occur without equal representation in resource governance amongall stakeholders, whether through enforced human rights (Vaux 2010) or property rights(Tarlock 2010), or with members of the community serving in a decision-makingcapacity (Warry 2008).

Governing water resources equitably and sustainably requires the participation,buy-in, and representation of a diverse range of actors, stakeholders, and decisionmakers. Leaving disenfranchised or underrepresented groups out of the governanceprocess perpetuates a widening of sociopolitical and economic inequity, and contri-butes to a degradation of ecosystem health. In the North American Great Lakesregion, indigenous communities in the United States and Canada continue to fightfor access to water management decision making, despite assurances from treatyrights (Phelan Hand 2007; Vaux 2010). The Soviet Union infamously diverted theinflows of two large rivers to support cotton and rice production in Uzbekistanand Turkmenistan, reducing the surface area of the Aral Sea to about a quarterof its original extent, altering regional precipitation patterns, and destroying theregional fishing industry of the ethnic Karakalpak villages (Badescu and Schuiling2010; Schluter and Herrfahrdt-Pahle 2011; Whish-Wilson 2002). In southernCalifornia, decades of restoration plans for the Salton Sea have been stymied bywater transfer agreements from the watershed to San Diego, placing at risk bothwildlife and rural communities (such as the Torres-Martinez Band of NativeAmericans) dependent upon the ecosystem (California Natural ResourcesAssociation 2011; Schwabe et al. 2008; U.S. Government Printing Office 1996).

Similar to the Aral Sea and the Salton Sea, water diversions from the rivers thatfeed Lake Urmia in Iran (also for urban and agricultural use) are shrinking the lakeand increasing its salinity, decreasing the resilience of the ecosystem. Restorationplans for Lake Urmia are also faltering, but for different reasons. The ongoingdestruction of Lake Urmia provides an example of poor resource managementexacerbated by the disenfranchisement of a Kurdish ethnic minority. However, LakeUrmia’s story is far less famous than that of the Aral Sea or the Salton Sea. In thefollowing we discuss the ecological and social dimensions of Lake Urmia’s manage-ment, and describe how the lake’s future is placed in jeopardy when managementdecisions are not inclusive of all communities. In particular, an option to discon-tinue water transfers from a main feeder river for the lake to the city of Tabrizwould be ecologically and socially optimal for the majority of the inhabitants livingaround the lake, but politically it is the least favored by the decision makers andpolitical elite.

The Geography of Lake Urmia, Iran

Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran is one of the largest saline lakes in the world andthe largest lake in Iran (Hassanzadeh et al. 2012; Zarghami 2011). The entire water-shed is about 52,000 km2 in a semi-arid area that receives an average of 550mm peryear of precipitation (mostly in winter), and represents 7% of the available surfacewater in Iran (Eimanifar and Mohebbi 2007). It resembles the Great Salt Lake ofUtah in terms of shape, size, morphology, chemistry, and sediments (Golabian

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2011). The lake is protected as a national park, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, andis listed as a Ramsar site (Zeinoddini et al. 2009) due to its unique natural andecological features. The lake provides critical habitat for migratory waterfowl suchas greater flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus), and supports a unique bisexual brineshrimp (Artemia urmiana) that is the primary food source for the birds (Abbaspourand Nazaridoust 2007; Eimanifar and Mohebbi 2007; Karbassi et al. 2010).

Most of the lake’s inflow comes from three main rivers: Zarrineh, Simineh, andTalkheh (Figure 1). The Zarrineh River provides almost half of the inflow to the lake(Abbaspour and Nazaridoust 2007; Eimanifar and Mohebbi 2007). Sixty-fivepercent of the lake’s water loss is due to changes in inflow, while 25% is due todam construction and 10% to decreased precipitation (Eimanifar and Mohebbi2007; Hassanzadeh et al. 2012). Water diversion for upstream use is the mostimportant driver of water loss in the lake (Ahmadi et al. 2011; Eimanifar andMohebbi 2007), a similar fate to that of salt lakes across the world (Sharp andGlanzer 1997; Williams 1993; 1996; 2001).

The lake’s surface area and water level have sharply declined in recent decades,causing salinity levels to increase to �340 g=L (where average seawater salinity isaround 30 g=L; Eimanifar and Mohebbi 2007; Hassanzadeh et al. 2012; Karbassiet al. 2010), higher than the optimal condition for Artemia (200 g=L; Abbaspour

Figure 1. The Lake Urmia watershed and ethnicity in three provinces. The Landsat 5 TMimage of the lake in September 2011 is compared to its surface area in June 1976. Two ofthe three main rivers originate from the Zagros forests. The water of the Zarrineh River ispumped to Tabriz by pipe. Note the differences in the frequency of dams in the two ethnicareas. (Color figure available online.)

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and Nazaridoust 2007). The groundwater level has dropped more than 16m in someparts of the watershed (Zarghami 2011). The loss of water volume and increase insalinity threaten not only the Artemia-based biodiversity, but also the wetlands atthe southern end of the lake. Wetland loss there will impact the ecological balanceand the regional tourism industry (Eimanifar and Mohebbi 2007; Zarghami 2011).The windblown salt from the exposed lakebed can cause a suite of human healthissues, including respiratory diseases, cancer, genetic and birth defects, and otherhealth problems similar to the consequences of the shrinking Aral Sea and SaltonSea (Schwabe et al. 2008; Whish-Wilson 2002).

The Zagros oak forests in Kurdistan are chiefly responsible for maintainingflows in the Zarrineh and Simineh rivers, two of the three main inflows to the lake(Figure 1). Decline in forest cover in the Zagros region occurred simultaneously withan increase in urban populations and precipitation decline (Henareh Khalyani et al.2012). Larger urban populations increase demand for agricultural products, prompt-ing a substantial conversion of forest to agricultural land uses (Henareh Khalyani et al.2012) and requiring more water for irrigation. As the lake shrinks, it loses the abilityto ameliorate the regional climate, creating hotter, drier conditions (Golabian 2011)that require more irrigation to maintain agricultural productivity. Therefore, a positivefeedback loop exists between population increase and agricultural expansion, which inthe case of Lake Urmia is accompanied by water diversion.

Population, Productivity, Precipitation, and Politics

Western Iran is not only biologically diverse, but is also linguistically and culturallydiverse (Rashidvash 2012). The lake’s watershed is largely dominated by two ethnicgroups, who self-identify as Azeri Turks and Kurdish (Figure 1). The Kurdish socialgroup is rarely represented in regional- or national-level administration and arguablyhas less political power (Ghassemlou 1980; Yildiz and Taysi 2007). Since World WarII, successive governmental regimes have favored ethnic Azeri for political appoint-ments even at the local scale, and Kurds have often been in the position of negotiat-ing with Azeri for autonomy or representation (Yildiz and Taysi 2007). Regionalpolitical movements for autonomy among Kurds in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey haveraised concern among national officials regarding an increase in agitation forself-governance among the Kurdish populations in Iran (Randal 1997; Entessar2010). Also, Muslim Kurds are predominantly Sunni Muslims (or other religions),and face religious discrimination from the regime’s Shi’a Muslim ideological policies(MacDonald 2012; Natali 2005; Yildiz and Taysi 2007).

Water is managed at the provincial level with oversight at the national level.This governance structure favors (perhaps unintentionally) Azeri water demandsover Kurdish ones (Figure 1) and results in water management policies that exacer-bate the disempowerment of the Kurdish communities. For example, 26 of the 30operating dams were constructed in—and benefit—the more politically empoweredAzeri Turkish region (Figure 1). Dam construction is often a result of politicalpatronage that tends to emphasize economic development over social equality(Yildiz and Taysi 2007). Intense agricultural development (3.5% increase in the past7 years), concentrated industry, and rapid urbanization took place in eastern areas(Hassanzadeh et al. 2012), while the Kurdish areas received fewer resources forinfrastructure improvements and remain relatively underdeveloped. As a matter ofnational policy, Kurdish areas have been denied infrastructure projects and

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economic development plans, and these areas are some of the poorest in the nation(Yildiz and Taysi 2007).

Ecological and Sociopolitical Drivers of Lake Urmia’s Decline

The main ecological reasons for the lake’s destruction are a combination of long-term and short-term issues. In the long term, the destruction of Zagros forests bymismanagement and climate change will negatively impact the water supply to bothlocal communities and Lake Urmia, regardless of water infrastructure development(Henareh Khalyani et al. 2013). Zagros forests regulate the water supply for two ofthe lake’s main headwaters and many other rivers (Figure 1). In the short term, waterinfrastructure projects that have been developed without consideration for waterneeds in the western and southern (predominantly Kurdish) areas of the lake basinhave increased resource scarcity and hence economic strain in the area, drivingdeforestation. In particular, two infrastructure projects (the water pipe and thecauseway, Figure 1) have transferred a large portion of the water supplies out of thisarea and into the northeastern section, exacerbating the social inequity between theKurdish communities and the Azeri communities in the northeast.

Completed in 1999, a pipe transfers about 3 billion m3 annually from theZarrineh River to Tabriz (the largest urban area in East Azeribaijan; Abbaspourand Nazaridoust 2007; Golabian 2011). The water is used for domestic andindustrial consumption in the city, and for irrigating large-scale agricultural fieldsin the region surrounding the city. Coincidentally, this 3 billion m3 is the sameannual volume of inflow required to restore the lake to its pre-1999 levels(Abbaspour and Nazaridoust 2007). The steady decline of the lake’s surface areastarted in the mid-1990s, showing a 7-m decline from 1995 to 2011 (Jalili et al.2011; Pengra 2012), and the most pronounced declines in lake level and concomitantrise in salinity occurred after this project was completed (Golabian 2011; Pengra2012). Agriculture on the uplands near Tabriz employs more energy-intensivetechniques (such as irrigation and monocultures to produce market crops), whileKurdish communities in the southern portion of the watershed practice a moretraditional grazing and rain-fed agricultural system near the lake’s main watersources in the Zagros oak forest ecosystem. The water supply and filtration functionsthat the ecosystem provides are critically important to the Kurdish populations, andrepresent a spatial distribution of water resources that also maintains Lake Urmiaand its southern wetlands, supporting biodiversity, agriculture, and tourism. Hadthe importance of these water resources to Kurdish communities been understoodas equally important to the health of Lake Urmia, the long-term negative conse-quences of the water infrastructure projects might have prevented the construction.

The construction of the 1979 causeway across Lake Urmia was most likelypolitically motivated, as its primary purpose was to facilitate communicationbetween Azeri people in Urmia (with mixed ethnicities) and Tabriz (predominantlyAzeri [Eimanifar and Mohebbi 2007; Golabian 2011]). The causeway has partitionedthe lake into two dissimilar sections with independent flow circulations, creatinga northern section with much lower surface elevation, 60% higher salinity, and lowerArtemia density than the southern half (Eimanifar and Mohebbi 2007; Zarghami2011; Zeinoddini et al. 2009). Had the decision makers considered the ecologicalimpacts of the causeway prior to construction, it is possible that culverts would havebeen built under the causeway to retain the lake’s circulatory flows.

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Restoring Lake Urmia

The Iranian government has come under increasing popular pressure to saveLake Urmia. Huge demonstrations occurred in 2011 and 2012 in Tabriz, Urmia,and other cities, requesting the government to take immediate action. Some ofthe protests even resulted in serious violence. The Iran Department of Environment(a governmental entity) and the Iranian Society of Environmentalists (an Iraniannongovernmental organization [NGO]) have also raised significant concerns aboutthe consequences of Lake Urmia’s destruction and have publicly criticized the govern-ment’s environmental neglect. Several Iranian parliamentarians have introduced billsdecrying the government’s past water management in Lake Urmia, and its failure totake action to restore the lake. But what actions should be taken to save the lake?

To improve the long-term ecological conditions for Lake Urmia and the socio-political health of the Kurdish communities, we suggest restoring Zagros forestsand maintaining the origins of the lake’s water (Henareh Khalyani et al. 2012).With regard to the short-term restoration of the water levels (and subsequentlythe wetland and aquatic habitats) of Lake Urmia, there are two possibilities thatare currently under consideration (Pengra 2012). One approach is an interbasintransfer of water from other basins, and the other one is intrabasin water adjustmentwithin Lake Urmia basin. Water transfer from the Zab River (which originates in theZagros forests and flows into Iraq) or Aras River (flowing through Turkey, andalong the Armenia, Iran, and Azerbaijan borders) has been identified as preferableby some studies (Eimanifar and Mohebbi 2007; Hassanzadeh et al. 2012; Pengra2012; Zarghami 2012), but the transfer is not without substantial international com-plications. An option to transfer water from the Caspian Sea would be less politicallycomplicated; however, meeting Lake Urmia’s water deficit would require pumpingwater against a 2,200-m height difference in several steps over 320 km (Golabian2011). It should be noted that pumping water from the Caspian Sea to restore theAral Sea (against an 80-m height difference) has also been proposed by researchers,who are generally more likely to propose options that government agencies are will-ing to consider, rather than options that researchers (often supported by governmentfunding) know will not be considered (Badescu and Schuiling 2010).

An alternative option that has received little attention is to adjust water alloca-tions within the basin. This option is largely considered impractical and inadequateby the provincial water management agency due to the domestic need for irrigatedagriculture as a result of the demands and practices from the political elite (Golabian2011; Hassanzadeh et al. 2012). However, we believe Lake Urmia’s restoration planshould focus on the diversion of the lake’s headwaters. This water is diverted andpumped to northern uplands hundreds of kilometers away while the agriculturallowlands around the headwaters are deprived of water. The timely and short-termaction for restoration of the lake is to stop the pipe project as soon as possible toreconnect the main headwaters back to the lake. Considering the needs of the diver-gent groups in the watershed, we suggest that the redistribution of water within thewatershed is a more equitable and ecologically sound solution and should be givengreater consideration. Reversing the Zarrineh River water relocation project toTabriz would restore the lake to its former condition while addressing equitabilityissues related to distribution. In addition, a focus on more efficient water use (orreuse) in agricultural areas, along with drought-tolerant crops, may ease waterdemands within the basin (Hayashi et al. 2013). The reduction of water-intensive

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crops for export would also support sustainability goals. Greater benefit sharing ofnational oil revenues in the basin (through greater subsidies) is also a consideration,perhaps by using the subsidies to purchase water-intensive crops from other regionsand allowing regional production to focus on drought-tolerant crops (Dalin et al.2012). While this approach does raise issues regarding the sustainability of inter-national transfers of ‘‘virtual water’’ (Dalin et al. 2012), the approach would preservethe water supplies that both the Kurdish and Turkish communities and Lake Urmiarequire for their long-term survival.

Conclusion

The rapid ecological decline of Lake Urmia has caused many environmentalproblems and presents serious risks to human and ecosystem health. Increasedpopular pressure has forced the government to initiate plans to restore the lake.The critical issue at this stage is the strategy that should be taken to do so. The prob-lem requires immediate and long-term interventions. We suggest that the long-termplans should focus on Zagros forests restoration, which would maintain the lake’swater sources in the face of ongoing climate change and socioeconomic pressures.The more immediate plans should redistribute the lake’s headwaters within thewatershed by reversing the Zarrineh River water inflow back to the lake. Effectiveenvironmental management and restoration plans must map out all ecosystemprocesses, goods, and services and determine the impacts of these provisions onthe political ecology issues of the region. In addition, all communities within thebasin need to be fully engaged in the decision-making process of the lake restoration,and the power dynamics of the disenfranchised require attention at all politicallevels and phases (Jones 2012; McCormick 2010; Oviedo et al. 2000). Therefore,a necessary condition for any sustainable resource management plan will provideseats at the decision-making table for all stakeholders, particularly indigenousminorities who are often left out of watershed governance. When this conditionis not upheld, a high risk of continued sociopolitical inequity and environmentaldegradation is likely (e.g., Pretty et al. 2009; Schluter and Herrfahrdt-Pahle 2011).Given the recent public interest in restoring Lake Urmia, the timing might be rightto look more closely at ways to improve the ecological health of the Lake and toincorporate a more encompassing water governance framework.

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