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Environmental sustainability of the Chitgar Lake construction project in Tehran, Iran, was evaluated by a life cycle assessment (LCA) method in two phases of construction and operation using SimaPro 8.2.3 software. The results of analysis by Centre voor Milieukunde Leiden (CML) and IMPACT methods demonstrated that during the construction and operation (assuming 80 years of operation) phases of the lake 0.102 and 0.141 Mt of CO2eq (affects global warming), 0.015 and 0.021 Mt of 1,4‐dichlorobenzene (DB)eq (results in toxicity for humans), 657.155 and 807.425 tons of SO2eq (leads to acidification), 150.123 and 69.374 tons of PO4−3 eq (causes eutrophication), 1597 and 2265 terajoules of primary energy (damages the resources), 0.1 and 0.138 Mt of CO2eq (impacts on climate change), 18205330.45 and 11424387.32 potentially disappeared function (PDF) × m2 × yr (harms the quality of the ecosystem), and 165.37 and 104.94 disability‐adjusted life year (DALY) (threats the human health) are caused, respectively. Electricity consumption has the greatest environmental impact on the operation phase of the lake. Furthermore, the operation phase of the lake is more harmful to the environment and human health compared to the construction phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To find answers to the challenges linked with ecological well-being, policymakers and authorities now prefer the ecosystem-based approach, as the solutions inspired by nature may deflect from ecological collapse. Nature-based solutions (NBS) are rhapsodized both in practice and academia as a means to achieve sustainable development. However, NBS, which inherently is supposed to bring forth positive outcomes, may also lead to unsustainable turmoil. On the other hand, the majority of the studies about NBS are from Western countries and studies focusing on the paradoxical functionality of NBS are scant, especially in the Middle East. In an attempt to bridge this gap, the current study uses one of the largest blue artificial infrastructures in the Middle East as a case. Following the phenomenological interpretive approach, the authors argue that NBS may fabricate unintended problems when the complexity of the supra systems are overlooked. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bayat J, Hashemi SH, Nikzad MF, Talakesh SMR. 2021. Necessity of water treatment to meet lake water quality goals in Chitgar Lake. Lake Reserv Manage. 37:160–169. Managing urban lake water quality to prevent algae blooms is important for tourism at Chitgar Lake, which is a shallow artificial lake created for recreation in northwest Tehran City, Iran. Its water quality is influenced by the Kan River as its water source, as well as by peripheral activities and bird excrement. This study investigates the effectiveness of different water quality management practices including restricted water intake rules and water treatment from April 2013 to April 2020 to improve the water quality of the lake in order to limit algae blooms. The nonparametric Mann–Kendall method and the Sen function were applied to decipher trends and assess impacts of the practices. Despite intake water control, the trend analysis showed that chlorophyll-a and total phosphorus had increased after the opening of the lake in 2013. However, this incremental trend was greatly reduced after commissioning a treatment plant for improving water quality. The treatment system improves the quality of diverted Kan River water during winter lake refill and is used to treat lake water during the rest of the year. The specific characteristics of the lake and the Kan River prevent achievement of target water quality without water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitgar Lake is an artificial urban lake located in northwestern of Tehran, the capital city of Iran. It is estimated that the lake becomes highly eutrophic in the near future. In this paper, a methodology is presented for evaluating different water supply and water quality management policies proposed for this lake by utilizing evidential reasoning (ER) and fuzzy social choice (FSC) methods. The ER method can handle different kinds of uncertainties, such as fuzziness and ignorance, involved in analyzing lake water management alternatives. Since the ER method, as a multi-criteria single decision making technique, does not directly consider utilities of multiple stakeholders involved in the system, we also utilize a FSC method to reevaluate various lake water management alternatives. A set of 15 alternatives, rather than existing pattern of water supply for the lake, are proposed for the lake water quantity and quality management. Six assessment criteria are also considered for crisp or fuzzy evaluating the lake management alternatives. To evaluate the alternatives, the results of simulating the lake watershed using the storm water management model (SWMM) and model for urban stormwater improvement conceptualization (MUSIC) have been used. The application of the proposed methodology to the Chitgar Lake problem shows that using multi-criteria single decision making and multi-criteria multi-decision making methods can lead to different rankings for the same set of alternatives. Based on our evaluation, results of the FSC method, which directly incorporates the utility functions of stakeholders, look more promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the metropolitan project in the north west of Tehran, Chitgar Lake was built with an aim to make the weather fine and attract tourists. The idea behind the construction of the lake in this area is linked to the first urban programs for Tehran expansion; it was finally opened in 2010. Environmental experts have serious critical comments about it. The view of Landscape has also some serious comments about lack of a landscape strategy for the city of Tehran in offering the suggestion. Due to some reasons including the unique integration of recreational activities around the lake and its large dimension in the first years after the construction, the lake has failed to appeal to anyone. On a large scale, the disparate elements of the lake in the landscape and environment have caused a break in the foothill landscape. Based on large, modest and small scales, the study of Chitgar Lake Project represents managerial and professional gaps in the definition, design, and implementation of the project. In each of the three dimensions, lack of interest in problems concerning the natural context and project subject has caused the failure to achieve the goals of the project and productivity of citizens. On the large scale, an obsolete modernist view and lack of sufficient expert in evaluating previous projects have led to a break in the landscape of the region. On average scale, a professional view on landscape, natural capabilities, and project outlook have been disregarded, and on small scale the multiplicity of ideas and interfering preferences, lack of consistent management from design through implementation and decorative look at landscape elements that arise from lack of landscape view, some consequences on comfort, aesthetics, and natural identity of the complex have ensued. It seems that the entire above matters which arise from order-based and nonprofessional management in an expert project at an upstream glance would have given rise to the results in this project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]