Lake Urmia sees surface area and wildlife population increases

Lake Urmia has seen a significant increase in surface area and water volume due to favorable rainfall, successful restoration projects, and improved weather conditions. The lake's current surface area is reported at 2,070 square kilometers, a more than fourfold increase from the 481 square kilometers recorded last year. The current water volume stands at 2.67 billion cubic meters, compared to 0.28 billion cubic meters during the same period last year.

Despite this progress, officials note that the lake's ecological surface area target is 4,635 square kilometers and the ecological water volume target exceeds 15 billion cubic meters. Continued rainfall and adherence to agricultural patterns around the lake are cited as essential for long-term stability.

In conjunction with environmental improvements, the population of Persian fallow deer in the Rashkan National Park site has also quadrupled. There are currently 22 deer in the Rashkan site, with five added this year. Due to space limitations at the current 6-hectare site, plans are underway to transfer part of the population to the Esfir and Ashk islands to ensure continued successful breeding and conservation of the endangered species.