page_title: Hamun Lake
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Hamun Lake / Geography
context_page_description: Lake Hāmūn or "Hamoun Oasis" is a term applied to wetlands in endorheic Sīstān Basin on the Irano-Afghan border in the Sistan region. In Iran, it is also known as Hāmūn-e Helmand, Hāmūn-e Hīrmand, or Daryācheh-ye Sīstān.
  Hāmūn is generic term which refers to shallow lakes, usually seasonal, that occur in deserts of southeast Iran and adjacent areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan as a product of snowmelt in nearby mountains in spring. The term Hāmūn Lake is equally applied to Hāmūn-e Helmand, as well to shallow lakes Hāmūn-e Sabari and Hāmūn-e Puzak, which extend into territory of present-day Afghanistan with latter being almost entirely inside Afghanistan. The Hamun is fed by numerous seasonal water tributaries; the main tributary is the perennial Helmand River, which originates in Afghanistan Hindu Kush mountains. In modern times, and prior to the existence of the dams for agricultural irrigation, spring floods would bring into existence much larger lakes.
context_section_description: It is located in Afghanistan which forms on the Sīstān marshes west of the Dasht-e Mārgow desert where the Helmand River forms a dendritic delta. Water flows in a circular fashion through a string of lakes starting with Hāmūn-e Puzak in the northeast, sweeping into Hāmūn-e Sabari and finally overflows into Hāmūn-e Helmand in the southwest.
  It used to cover an area of about 4,000 km² (1,500 mi²) with dense reed beds and tamarisk thicket fringing on the edges of the upper lakes. The area was thriving with wildlife animals and migratory birds.
  A trapezoid-shaped basalt outcropping, known as Mount Khajeh, rises up as an island in the middle of which used to be Hāmūn Lake and the northeastern edge of Hāmūn-e Helmand. Its flat-topped peak rises up 609 meters above sea level with a diameter 2-2.5  km, being the only remaining natural uplift in the Sīstān flatlands.
  Hamun Lake is sometimes categorized as three sibling shallow lakes Hamun-e Helmand, Hāmūn-e Sabari and Hāmūn-e Puzak, the latter extending into the Lash wa Juwayn District of Farah Province in Afghanistan.
  Lake Hāmūn is fed primarily by water catchments on the Afghani side, including the Harut River. It is in the Sistan region and it is in the Lash wa Juvayn District of the Farah Province of Afghanistan. The Harut River flows into the lake on the Afghanistan side of the border. In 1976, when rivers in Afghanistan were flowing regularly, the amount of water in the lake was relatively high. Between 1999 and 2001, however, the lake all but dried up and disappeared, as can be seen in the 2001 satellite image.
  When droughts occur in Afghanistan, or the water in watersheds that support Lake Hāmūn is drawn down by other natural or human-induced reasons, the end result is a dry lake bed in Iran. In addition, when the lake is dry, seasonal winds blow fine sands off the exposed lake bed. The sand is swirled into huge dunes that may cover a hundred or more fishing villages along the former lakeshore. Wildlife around the lake is negatively impacted and fisheries are brought to a halt. Changes in water policies and substantial rains in the region hope to effect a return of much of the water in Lake Hamoun by 2003.
  In 1975 the hāmūn, together with Hāmūn-e Sabari, was designated a Ramsar site.
caption: Time series of LANDSAT photographs showing water level in Lake Hāmūn, eastern Iran / southwestern Afghanistan.[11]
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