Iran's Shrinking Salt Lake Urmieh Reflects Growing Water Crisis

URMIEH, IRAN - JANUARY 23: Iranian university student Vahid Rezaei collects water samples from the salt-encrusted former lakebed of Iran's shrinking Lake Urmieh, which presents a risk of salt storms and future health and environmental problems 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)