A delegation of international experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) completed a 7 day mission to Iran (3-9 October) as the 2^nd part of rapid assessment in Lake Urmia Basin and also a 2 day training workshop on water accounting.

According to a press release published by the FAO Representation in Iran, 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 four- member FAO delegation included experts on water management and water accounting, drought management, and socio-economics and livelihood headed by Aziz El-Bahri, Senior Economist at FAO Headquarters in Rome. The visiting team included FAO experts from headquarters (Rome), FAO regional office for Near East and North Africa, and partner organizations.

During this mission which started in Tehran and continued to West Azerbaijan, a series of meetings organized by the Lake Urmia Restoration Program (ULRP) and FAO experts met with specialists from the Iran Meteorological Organization, academics from universities of Sharif, Tarbiat Modares, Tabriz, and Urmia, and also local officials from Ministry of Jahad Agriculture and Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization.

A two day training workshop on Water Accounting Plus(WA+) was held by Poolad Karimi, a member of FAO mission and senior researcher at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, and Jiro Ariyama, Associate Professional Officer at FAO regional office for Near East and North Africa. A wide set of stakeholders from academic and governmental organizations participated in this event.

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 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.