Iran's Shrinking Salt Lake Urmieh Reflects Growing Water Crisis

URMIEH, IRAN Ð JANUARY 23: Iranian farmer Abdulali Aghabalazadeh (left) and his brother Ghorbanali Aghabalazadeh walk among drip irrigation tubes on their farm, which is part of a government-sponsored pilot project to conserve water near Iran's shrinking salt lake on January 23, 2015 in Urmieh, northwest Iran. Once one of the largest salt lakes in the world, it has lost 90 percent of its volume in the past decade and symbolizes the scale of the water crisis facing Iran today. Decades of overuse, water mismanagement and drought nationwide have made water resources a key security issue for the government of President Hassan Rouhani, which has pledged to restore Lake Urmieh with a 10-year, $5 billion plan. (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)