The
Lake is located about 15 km east of Kazeroun in a valley at the
southern toe of the mountains locally known as Div kan. It is more or
less a topographical depression which forms an elongated pan in between
the shallow ridges in its eastern, southern and western sides. The area
is located in the semiـarid part of Iran with short mildـtemperate
winters and long hot and dry summers. Precipitation regime of the area
follows that of Mediterranean and major part of precipitation occurs
during fall up to spring months. Summer months are generally dry. The
catchment area of the Lake is about 270,000 ha. The surface area of the
water body changes seasonally according to the hydrological condition
and generally varies between more than 2500 ha to almost 5000 ha but
historical documents show that in some severe drought periods (1987) the
entire lake has dried out. The average annual precipitation of the area
is around 450 mm ranging in between 700220ـ mm/yr. The evaporation
capacity in the area is high (on average 2470 mm per year) and ranges in
between 16003350ـ mm/yr. The Lake is recharged by different sources
including ground water flows, precipitation and runoffs from surrounding
areas. The geological formations in the north of the Lake are of
limestone nature which is generally characterized by extensive fissures.
This Karstic feature of northern limestone causes several springs to
appear in the eastern and western sides of the Lake. Also, significant
seepage flows directly enter the lake from the northern slopes.
The Lake is generally a shallow water body with more or less impervious
bed. When fully inundated, the depth of water in its deepest part is
less than 5 meters. At low water level conditions, the depth of water in
the lake is generally less than 2 meters. The Lake does not have a
natural outflow and its main source of water loss is through evaporation
from water surface and consumption by vegetation cover. However large
number of water wells (more than 800) have been excavated around the
Lake and are exploiting significant volume of ground water for
irrigation uses which otherwise would recharge the wetland