Lake Urmia in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province completely dries up

Lake Urmia, once one of the world’s largest saline lakes, has completely dried up, according to satellite images published in Iranian media.

Officials had previously warned that the lake could vanish by the end of summer if restoration efforts failed. Despite the Tehran administration’s launch of a $6 billion ecological project aimed at reviving the lake, prolonged drought conditions have prevented any significant recovery.

The complete drying up of Lake Urmia marks a severe ecological crisis in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, raising concerns over environmental, economic, and social consequences for the region.

Historically, the lake attracted migratory birds including flamingos, pelicans, ducks and egrets. Its drying up, or desiccation, is undermining the local food web, especially by destroying one of the world’s largest natural habitats of the brine shrimp Artemia, a hardy species that can tolerate salinity levels of 340 grams per litre, more than eight times saltier than ocean water.

Effects on humans are perhaps even more complicated. The tourism sector has clearly lost out. While the lake once attracted visitors from near and far, some believing in its therapeutic properties, Urmia has turned into a vast salt-white, barren land.