TEHRAN (Tasnim) � An Iranian official announced that the country is considering transfer of water from Turkey�s Lake Van to shrinking Lake Oroumiyeh in northwestern Iran.

The plan for transferring Lake Van�s water is still in the feasibility study stage, Eisa Kalantari, the official in charge of reviving the Iranian lake, said, adding that the transfer would be carried out if the results of the biological, environmental, and chemical studies are found to be positive.

He went on to say that the studies will take three to four months, and once completed, technical and political negotiations will be held between the two countries.

Kalantari added that the project would not cost much as the distance between the two lakes is just 170 kilometers, and Lake Van is 350 meters higher than its Iranian counterpart.

The Iranian official also pointed to a plan for the transfer of water from Georgia to Lake Oroumiyeh, saying the plan, which is under preliminary investigations, is unlikely to be operationalized.

As Lake Oroumiyeh is shrinking and deserts of salt expanding, Iranian officials are trying to find ways to avert an imminent disaster and to stop the salt lake from drying up.

Back on December 2014, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Iran and Akvaplan (Niva) company of Norway, based on which the Norwegian company was commissioned to study the ecological and environmental side-effects of transferring water from the Caspian Sea to Lake Oroumiyeh.

One of the largest salt lakes in the world and classified as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, Lake Oroumiyeh has lost more than 60 percent of its surface over the last two decades due to drought and the damming of rivers feeding it.

The disappearance of the lake could leave behind billions of tons of salt which in turn displace millions of people and endanger the ecosystem of all surrounding areas, whose economy rely on agriculture and tourism.

By Tasnim News Agency