The increasing severity of drought worldwide and recent environmental efforts to restore wetlands has put additional pressure on water resources. The present study is a part of drought risk management plan that suggests a drought warning system with measures to reduce water consumption at each drought level. Strategies to reduce water consumption and for water allocation to Lake Urmia include full allocation of 3100 MCM per year or up to 35% partial allocation of the lake’s water in accordance with the severity of drought.The approaches considered to reduce agricultural demand, reductions in cropped area and deficit irrigation have been accepted. This policy was simulated using an optimization model for water allocation between the agricultural and environmental sectors throughout the levels of drought. The results of simulations showed that the new allocations put increasing pressure on the agricultural sector and the basin will remain under drought conditions for more than 50% of the time while applying the drought plan. Moreover, the provinces don’t face similar drought levels, which is negative from a political perspective and should be considered for the compensation budgeting. The methodology can be recommended to model components of similar drought plans that will benefit from its applicability and objectivity.
