What USU Researchers Can Learn About the Great Salt Lake by Looking at Lake Urmia in Iran

If judged on distance alone, a separation of about 6,800 miles as the crow files may indicate a lack of similarities.

But in the case of Lake Urmia of Iran and our very own Great Salt Lake here in Utah, the parallels abound: the two are both saline lakes; both are terminal lakes; both serve as important habitat for migratory birds; and both are currently being threatened as they face historic lows and continual lake level decline.

USU researchers have been working with Iranian researchers to investigate these similarities and how the parallel nature of the two lakes may help them learn to manage and support them better.