Resilient approach toward urban development in lake catchments, case of Urmia Lake

Authors

1 Department of Environmental Management, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 School of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The climate change and human development in lake catchments placed these habitats in drying conditions such as Aral Sea in Asia, Lake Chad in Africa, Lake Mead in USA, Lake Urmia, etc. These ecosystems play an important role in social, ecological and economic activities.In case of Lake Urmia, recognized as an international wetland in 1973, located in Iran that is the second largest hyper saline lake in the world is at the same state. Lake Urmia biologically and ecologically is one of the most interesting places in the world. This lake is a habitat for various species. The lake's surface has shrunken from 6000 km2 to 900 km2 in 2013. The statistics indicates that the population has increased by 13% during this period which shows that in addition to natural causes such as climate change and global warming, human related issues like population growth and urban development have the most important role on the lake's status.This paper presents an innovative method for estimating the wetland HSE statues, to make preventive measures and bring an acceptable coexistence of both, Lakes with all its ecological and environmental features, and the urban areas as sustainable and resilient cities.

Keywords