iReport — Urmia Lake, which is registered as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO,  will be dried up within three years, announced a local official in the  Environmental Protection Organization in West Azarbaijan.“Considering the current trend of the environmental crisis in Urmia  Lake, the lake will be completely dried up within three years,” Hassan  Abbasnejad said on Sunday.The Urmia Lake is a salt lake lying in the northwestern Iran and is  home to various migratory birds including flamingos, pelicans,  spoonbills, ibises, storks, avocets, stilts, and gulls. The lake is  located between the provinces of East Azarbaijan and West Azarbaijan. It  is the third largest salt water lake on earth with a surface area of  approximately 5,200 square kilometers.Unfortunately, what the experts forecast ten years ago is coming true  and this precious ecological asset will be completely destroyed in the  near future, Abbasnejad said.He went on to say that the destruction of the lake will create  serious environmental problems for the region’s ecological system and  climate.Abbasnejad also said that due to high evaporation rate, currently the  deepest part of the lake is only two meters deep and the lake has been  shrunk by 60 percent resulting in the rise in the level of water  salinity and in turn fall in the oxygen content of the lake water.The reduction of the oxygen has endangered the life of the only  living creature in the lake namely Artemia, which serves as a food  source for flamingos and other migratory birds.The official cited high evaporation rate, reduction in the amount of  the water which pours into the lake, low precipitation, and  overexploitation of the underground water resources as the main causes  of the dilemma.Experts say construction of dams on rivers feeding the lake and also  droughts have significantly decreased the annual amount of water Urmia  Lake receives. They also say that the construction of a bridge across  the lake has upset its ecological bala...