Nastaran Razavi - Landscape Architecture Department, University of Toronto Master of Landscape Architecture(MA) Tehran, Iran

The Lake Urmia is currently faced with major problems: water shortage, frequent drought, oxygen depletion and over exploitation of underground water. Also, the consequences of climate change are relative to water level decrease and nadir discharges of rivers to the lake. The stillness of the water lake, in combination with the frequent influx of runoff from agriculture and industries surrounding the lake has created an enormous growth of algae as well as a reduction in oxygen and species in water. To reduce the lake salinity levels, is to provide alternative models of agriculture. According to the statistics in 2010, 70% of rivers water goes to agriculture fields but less than half actually makes it to the crops and over the years overcoming of groundwater supplies have caused a significant lowering of the underground waters. Therefore, both natural and human factors are caused for the current drought conditions of the Lake. 65% of natural factors due to global warming and 35% due to human factors including construction of dams, digging wells for agriculture and harvesting river waters are the main causes. The goal of this article is to number sustainable practices to preserve the depleting Water of Urmia Lake. The main approaches in article are recommendations about rehabilitation of agricultural land , increasing zero-impact energy production, agricultural practices and crops production, using land, air , sun and water through farmlands, clean factories, algae farms, solar ponds, rainwater collection as a better way to irrigate farmlands.

(Lake Urmia, Water Shortage, Climate change, Agrigulture, Irrigation