From the late 1900s, the lake is shrinking due to the diversion of the rivers supplying it.

Some consider it likely the lake will shrink further and perhaps even disappear in the course of the 21st century.

Once six to eight feet deep, the lakes had shrunk to depths more appropriate for a bathtub.

As the lake shrunk, it left a series of sand ridges where its ancient beaches were.

In 1960 the lake covered about 2,000 km2, but shrank to a swamp over the rest of the 20th century.

The lake has considerably shrunk over the years and is now almost on the verge of vanishing.

As of 1997, its surface area was 3.95 hectares, but the lake is slowly shrinking in size.

In the early 2000s, the lake had shrunk to 10 km2 with a depth of about 0.5 to 1 metre.

However, as the climate became drier, these large lakes shrank away.

Although measures are now being taken to reverse the trend the lake has shrunk by 60% and could disappear entirely.