Evaluation the Impacts of Causeway Remedial Actions on Urmia Lake Ecosystem Using Computational Fluid Dynamics and Spatial Analysis Method

Urmia Lake is the largest inland water body in Iran and the largest hyper-saline lake in the Middle East. In recent years, climate change, rainfall scarcity, increased cultivated areas in the related watershed, construction of dams and various other factors have all brought the lake's environment, hydraulic and water quality to critical condition (Zoljoodi and Didevarasl, 2014; Tourian et al., 2015; Fathian et al., 2016; Danesh-Yazdi and Ataie-Ashtiani, 2019). Moreover, the construction of the causeway has influenced the water flow in the lake, as a barrier to natural communication between the northern and southern parts. Changes in water flow conditions may affect water quality in two parts. Therefore, modeling of the lake water flow condition and its water level are crucial for identifying the problems. In the present study, the flow pattern and salinity distribution are simulated using a computational fluid dynamics model to investigate the hydrodynamic conditions and the impacts of causeway construction on Urmia Lake. Finally, to improve water exchange between the north and south parts, additional openings are proposed along the causeway. Then, the environmental impacts are evaluated for the preferred hydrodynamic modeling scenarios..