Lake Uromiyeh is a large shallow, hypersaline Lake at the north-western end of Iran. In 1995 the average depth of the water at this lake was 19 meter with a water surface area of 6500 sq. km. However, during the last 10 years, the Lake has desiccated significantly. Many factors are blamed to be responsible for this detrimental happening. However, it seems that agricultural and water resources developments that have been implemented around the Lake Uromiyeh may be most important factor for this phenomenon. Because of these developments the area of cultivation around the Lake has increased from 280,000 Ha in 1990 to 450,000 Ha in 2013. Consequently, water use for agriculture has also increased from 1.8 BCM/yr to 5.6 BCM/yr respectively. Since all the water which are used for agriculture is either supplied from the aquifers around the Lake or diverting from the rivers ending the Lake, hydrological parameters, as well as the ecology of the lake, is no more balanced.

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