Four out of five of Turkey's lakes have vanished, and the ones that remain are shrinking fast, according to reporting by BBC Future. Drought and decades of heavy water use have drained wetlands that once filled the country's interior.
Lakes such as Burdur, Egirdir and Beysehir have been reduced or lost entirely. Researchers link the decline to water pulled out for industrial agriculture, to flood irrigation that wastes what is pumped, and to illegal wells that tap groundwater when canals run low.
Wetlands converted to farmland
Scientists first raised the alarm more than twenty years ago, when lakes began drying out at a visible pace. Wetlands were converted into fields, and irrigation expanded faster than the water supply could support.
The National Geographic reported that about 88 percent of Turkey is at risk of desertification, and that the country could face severe drought conditions by 2030. When lakes dry, the effect is not only on water supply. "That just essentially means death," one conservation scientist said of the loss.
Birds lose a stopover
Eastern Turkey's wetlands sit on one of the world's most important bird migration routes, linking Europe with Africa and beyond. Nearly two-thirds of the world's bird species are in decline, and losing a reliable stopover removes a place to rest and feed on long journeys.
Local conservation teams have tried to slow the damage. One government nature conservation office told the BBC that staff studied similar projects elsewhere and then built artificial islands so that birds would still have somewhere to nest as a dam changed the local water system.
Race against time
Birders and researchers now record species counts lake by lake, trying to keep track of what remains. Their work is a holding action. Without cuts in water extraction and a shift away from flood irrigation, the next round of lakes could follow the first.