Zola River Explained

Zola River
Pushpin Map:Iran
Subdivision Type1:Country
Subdivision Name1:Iran
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:West Azarbaijan province
Mouth Location:Lake Urmia, Iran

The Zola River, also known as the Zola Chai is a river in Iran, flowing into Lake Urmia. It runs north of Urmia and west of Salmas city in West Azerbaijan province. Rising in the mountains along the border with Turkey, the Zola flows southwest along the Salmas Plain. The river has a catchment area of 846 km².[1]

Zola Reservoir

The river has also been dammed[2] for irrigation. The dam has a height of 83m and a width of 287m and is constructed of an Earth-rock dam with central clay core. The dam holds 85 million m³ of water.[3]

Ecology

The Zola river is an important component of the ecosystem of the Lake Urmia Basin.[4] Lake Urmia is drying out and has taken on a red color due to phytoplankton in recent years.[5] The health of this river is a key indicator of the health of the whole basin and is therefore the subject of much study.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Jamshid Yarahmadi, The integration of Satellite Images, GIS and CROPWAT model to investigateion of water balance in irrigated areas:A case stude of Salmas and Tassoj Plains Iran. 2003.
  2. http://dup.esrin.esa.it/files/m310/14-%20WL%20hydrology%20and%20modelling%20-%20Vekerdy.pdf wetland hydrology and modelling at water basin level - Data User ...
  3. http://www.zistab.com/projectdetail2-61-en.html Conducting of Zola Dam's Construction
  4. Mohammad Amir Rahmani and Mahdi Zarghami, Studying Climate Change Condition by Wavelet-Ann and System Dynamics Approaches; Zola Reservoir, Iran.
  5. http://lake-urmia.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/on-red-coloration-of-lake-urmia.html On the red coloration of Lake Urmia
  6. http://www.ir.undp.org/content/dam/iran/docs/News/2014/March%202014/Towards%20a%20solution%20for%20Iran's%20dying%20wetlands/Lake%20Uromiyeh/LU%20Baseline%20Studies.pdf Lake Uromiyeh Baseline Studies - UNDP in Iran