Evaluation of the economic, social and environmental impacts of Urmia lake rehabilitation actions from the perspective of local communities

The water level decline of Urmia Lake is one of the most important natural hazards in recent years. In this regard, various rehabilitation actions have been carried out since 2010 in the framework of Urmia Lake Comprehensive Management Plan. Due to lack of monitoring and continuous evaluation of activities, different reports are made available to the public. Therefore, in the present study, the view of local communities regarding the current situation for Urmia Lake was investigated. To this end, the impacts of rehabilitation measures were evaluated from the economic, cultural-social and environmental-ecological perspective. From an economic and social point of view, the actions of the rehabilitation headquarter have not led to an increase in the social and economic sustainability of local communities, but have increased environmental sustainability at the regional level. In spite of the success of environmental measures, the measures taken to properly manage the water and subsurface resources, modify the cultivation model and present a multi-purpose land-use model in the agricultural sector have not been very effective. Accordingly, to fulfill the purpose of lake rehabilitation by 1403 in accordance with the approved road map, local communities are demanding full and precise implementation of the approvals of the National Working Group by various agencies.