Hydrological and Hydraulic Evaluation of Water Transfer from the Kani Sib Tunnel to Lake Urmia

The decline in water level of Lake Urmia is one of the regional environmental crises. One of the measures to rehabilitate Lake Urmia is the inter-basin water transfer from the Zab Basin to Lake Urmia through the Kani-Sib tunnel. The aim of the present study is the hydraulic and hydrological investigation of the water transfer project from Kani-Sib Dam to Lake Urmia. To achieve this goal, the water transfer from the Zab basin to Lake Urmia was simulated in the form of three scenarios (empty reservoir, half-full reservoir and full reservoir) for 10-years period and evaluated hydrologically and hydraulically. Solving the water balance equation with the intervention of the hydraulic relations of the tunnel water transfer flow and dam peak overflow was investigated in the MATLAB software environment on a daily basis. The results of the present study revealed that the outlet of the tunnel will be less than the amount determined in the Urmia lake reclamation headquarters program (600 MCM). It should be noted that the transferable volume of water (with 100% efficiency) in the dry hydrological period (similar to 77-78 year) will be around 190 MCM. In addition, in the case of high water (similar to 82-83 year), the tunnel outlet will be around 767 MCM.