A delegation of international experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) just completed a 14 day mission to Iran (1-14 July) and carried out a rapid assessment in Lake Urmia Basin as part of a 4-year project by FAO to support the Lake Urmia Restoration.

According to a press release published by the FAO Representation in Iran, the seven- member FAO delegation included experts on water management and water accounting, land management, watershed management, drought management, markets and trade and socio-economics and livelihood. The visiting team included FAO experts from headquarters (Rome), FAO regional office for Near East and North Africa, and partner organizations.

The mission included a series of meetings organized by the Lake Urmia Restoration Program (ULRP) and covered a wide range of topics from drought management, watershed management, land use and cropping patterns, water accounting and water balance as well as socio-economic situation of lake Urmia. The meetings started in Tehran and continued with field visits to East and West Azerbaijan provinces. During the mission, the team met with representatives from the universities of Sharif, Tarbiat Modares, Tabriz, and Urmia, ministry of agriculture, ministry of energy, department of forestry, representatives of provincial governments, Yekom consulting, the Chamber of Commerce (Urmia), local food traders, representatives of local communities, and several farm visits in East and West Azerbaijan, including the areas south of Lake Urmia.

The rapid assessment mission was FAO’s response to the request by our Iranian counterpart ULRP made at the end of an international consultation organized in April 2017 in Urmia City.

 The mission was designed to assess the current water situation in Lake Urmia, evaluate the progress made, the gaps and the technical, socio-economic and institutional challenges and propose a comprehensive work plan to design and implement actionable interventions that cumulatively contribute to the sustainable restoration of lake Urmia.

The mission is part of four-year FAO project entitled “Integrated Programme for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Urmia Lake Basin” and funded by the Government of Japan. The project aims to provide strategic guidance and technical assistance in support of the Government of Iran efforts to reverse the lake’s drying-up by reducing water consumption in agriculture by up to 40% over 4 years (2016 -2020). 

The FAO approach Lake Urmia restoration as socio-ecological problem and proposes an integrated framework that combine sound technical solutions with economically viable and socio-institutional acceptable options. This was reflected in the emphasis given during the mission to meet as many farmer groups and local community representatives as with government officials and technical experts.

FAO’s specific remit under this project include the design and implementation of an integrated framework combining international know how with national expertise to develop advanced tools and methodologies and to implement field interventions taking into account water availability, water consumption, land use and cropping choices, optimized water use methods, and other best practices in food production and marketing.  The project also places great emphasis on governance, institutional and policy reforms that enable local beneficiaries to better adopt sustainable practices and alternative income-generating activities to lessen the pressure on water consuming crops and hence contribute to the Urmia lake restoration.