Two interlinked controversies define the first controversy analysis of Lake Urmia: how its ecological health is determined and how the Causeway has influenced it. The discussion begins with the contested benchmark of 1,274 meters above the Persian Gulf, officially adopted as a prime restoration goal. Originating in Iranian scientific work, this ‘ecological water level’ is shown to be shaped by value-laden assumptions, privileging certain ecological indicators such as Artemia urmiana populations and specific salinity ranges—while sidelining others. Some uphold the figure as essential for coordinated action; whereas others criticise it as reductive, revealing environmental health as a negotiated construct. The second controversy, the causeway, has undergone three distinct reframings in regards to its impact on the lake: from negligible, to primary culprit, to a topic of contradictory debate. Scientific assessments, activist claims, and religious interpretations variously present the structure as obstructive, neutral, or even beneficial. These narratives illustrate how infrastructure becomes a symbolic and political object as well as a technical one.