Once Bolivia's second-largest lake, Lake Poopó has effectively vanished due to human and climate factors.

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Perched high in the Andes, Lake Poopó was a vital, shallow expanse of water supporting local fishing and diverse wildlife. Today, it is largely a dry, saline basin. Its disappearance reveals the fragile balance of high-altitude ecosystems caught between shifting weather patterns and the demands of industrial mining.

Located in the Altiplano of west-central Bolivia at 12,090 feet above sea level, Lake Poopó was historically the country's second-largest lake. It was a shallow body of water, typically only 8 to 10 feet deep, spanning roughly 56 miles in length. Because it is an endorheic basin—meaning it lacks a major outlet—the lake’s water levels were highly sensitive to seasonal changes and the inflow from the Desaguadero River, which provided about 92% of its water supply.

The lake's recent history is marked by cycles of drying and recovery. It disappeared in the mid-1990s but returned following a period of increased rainfall. However, by December 2015, the lake had dried up again, and as of 2016, experts considered its recovery unlikely. This decline is attributed to a combination of factors: climate change has tripled the evaporation rate since 1995 and increased the intensity of El Niño, while the melting of Andean glaciers has reduced the water available to the system.

Human activity has further strained the basin. Mining operations, which have a long history in the region dating back to the 13th century, have contributed to sediment buildup and heavy metal pollution. Water diversion for agriculture and mining has also depleted the lake's volume. Despite a $15 million grant from the European Union aimed at ecological sustainability, these combined pressures led the Bolivian government to declare the area a disaster zone in January 2016, forcing many local residents to relocate.

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