Factors Affecting Sensitivity to Water Crisis in Eastern Regions of Lake Urmia Basin(Case study: East Azerbaijan Province)

The purpose of this research was determine factors affecting the sensitivity of eastern regions of Lake Urmia basin to water crisis (68 regions). Required data were collected by using survey and documentary data and after a series of steps, sensitivity was calculated to obtain the average of that at each of the studied regions. Based on results, three classes of sensitivity were recognized: Low, moderate, and high. In the other words, 51.47% of the basin regions have a high sensitivity to the lake crisis and 23.52% are less sensitive to this crisis and the other regions have a moderate sensitivity to the Lake Urmia water crisis. Also, the results of one-way ANOVA analysis showed, studied regions have difference in the terms of variables such as: unemployment rate, farmer’s literacy level, less distance from the lake than other region and the number of illegal wells. The results of this study have implications for to national and regional Urmia Lake Restoration Program. The limited resources should focus on drought sensitive regions for increasing adaptive capacity and sustainable development building in the study regions.