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Cases / Water use · Bolivia · 1994–2025

Lake Poopó, Oruro, Bolivia: the lake reported dry in December 2015, partial refills and a new dry spell in 2023

Nature's voice · report
In December 2015 I was three wetlands of under 1 km² and about 30 cm deep, from 2,337 km², according to BBC Mundo.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Accounts differ ↓
Recorded
  • In 2016 NASA and ESA satellite images showed my water gone; about 200 species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and plants had disappeared or left, according to experts quoted by BBC Mundo. NASA Earth Observatory
  • On 18 November 2014 fish and aquatic birds died on my shore; eju.tv reported more than 1,780 fishing families affected. eju.tv
  • In October 2023 the Gobernación de Oruro reported that I was completely dry. Correo del Sur
Details not on record: 6 none on record · 1 not measured · 8 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Main cause of the 2015 drying
  • Government and regulators Vice-minister Carlos Ortuño and the Bolivian government (2015): Climate change and El Niño as the main cause; water availability second, including a 1990s regulation plan that kept water from reaching Poopó via the Desaguadero; the river is also affected by agriculture, industry and mining. El Mostrador / BBC Mundo
  • Researchers Satgé et al., Remote Sensing (2017): Rainfall alone does not explain the 2015 loss, since the drought coincided with a positive rainfall anomaly; regional evapotranspiration rose 12.8% between 2000 and 2014, concentrated over the main agricultural areas, identified as a major factor. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (Satgé et al.)
  • International bodies NASA Earth Observatory and NASA JPL: Drought and water-diversion projects; news reports blame recurrent drought and the diversion of water sources for mining and agriculture; upstream diversions, weather extremes and recurrent droughts are thought to blame. NASA Earth Observatory
  • Communities and civil society Limbert Sánchez, CEPA Oruro (2015): Water deficit, mining pollution and sedimentation as the main factors; the Desaguadero supplies 90% of the lake's water. Correo del Sur
Year of the lake's previous drying
  • International bodies NASA Earth Observatory (2016): The lake last dried up in 1994. NASA Earth Observatory
  • Press and investigations EFE wire reporting ESA (2016): The previous drying was in 1944. elDiario.es / Agencia EFE
  • Government and regulators Vice-minister Carlos Ortuño (2015): The drying occurs cyclically since 1986, as Correo del Sur reports. Correo del Sur
How much water remained in December 2015
  • Government and regulators Vice-minister Carlos Ortuño: About 30% of the water remained; the lake lost 60% of its water in three months. Correo del Sur
  • Communities and civil society Limbert Sánchez, CEPA Oruro: About 4% remained. Correo del Sur
How much of the lake returned after the 2017 rains
  • Government and regulators Governor Víctor Hugo Vásquez (January 2017): 703 km², a third of the area before the drying; refill expected in three or four years. elDiario.es / Agencia EFE
  • Researchers Milton Pérez, Universidad Técnica de Oruro (January 2017): The recovery falls short of expectations and rainfall was below what a La Niña year should bring. elDiario.es / Agencia EFE
  • Government and regulators President Evo Morales (12 February 2017): The lake was drying again to the east and west. Los Tiempos

Lake Poopó, a shallow saline lake on the Bolivian Altiplano, was reduced from 2,337 km² to three wetlands of under 1 km² in December 2015, according to BBC Mundo. NASA, ESA and Bolivian officials attribute the loss to drought and El Niño, to diversion of inflow for mining and agriculture, to sediment and to mining pollution, and the sources differ on which cause weighs most; the lake partly refilled in 2017–2018 and was reported completely dry again in October 2023.

2,337 km² reduced to three wetlands of under 1 km²Lake Poopó surface, normal extent and December 2015 remnant
BBC Mundo, 23 December 2015. Other sources give other normal extents (over 2,300 km², over 3,000 km²) and other remnants; see disputes.

Status As of September 2025: the lake covered 1,449.6 km² in August 2025 by a satellite-based map reported by El Deber, after being reported completely dry in October 2023; no court ruling on the drying itself is on record.

What?
Lake Poopó, a shallow saline lake in Oruro department, was reduced in December 2015 to three small wetlands and described by NASA, ESA and Bolivian officials as dry or evaporated; it partly refilled in 2017–2018 and was reported completely dry in October 2023. El Mostrador / BBC Mundo
Where?
Altiplano of Oruro department, Bolivia; the lake lies in a depression of the Altiplano fed mainly by the Desaguadero river, which flows from Lake Titicaca. Correo del Sur
When?
Die-off 18 November 2014; lake reported dry in December 2015; NASA images 12 April 2013 and 15 January 2016; partial refills 2017–2018; reported dry again October 2023; 1,449.6 km² in August 2025. El Deber
Who?
Gained
  • Irrigated agriculture in the basin — Satgé et al. found evapotranspiration up 12.8% between 2000 and 2014 over the main agricultural areas and identify agriculture as a major factor; the volume used and the crop output are not stated in the sources reviewed Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (Satgé et al.)
  • Mining operations in the basin — NASA reports that news blame diversion of the lake's water sources "for mining and agriculture"; the volumes and output are not stated in the sources reviewed NASA Earth Observatory
Lost
  • Fishing families, including Uru Murato, Uru-Chipaya and Aymara communities — Lost fishing livelihoods; many migrated for work; counts differ between sources Mongabay Latam
Harmed
  • Lake Poopó and its birds, fish and plants — Lake reduced to wetlands of under 1 km²; about 200 species lost or departed according to experts; fish and bird die-off on 18 November 2014 El Mostrador / BBC Mundo
Why?
Sources give drought and El Niño, upstream diversion for mining and agriculture, sediment, mining pollution, rising evapotranspiration over agricultural areas and a 1990s regulation plan; the weight of each is disputed. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (Satgé et al.)
How?
Inflow, mainly via the Desaguadero (about 90% according to CEPA), fell below evaporation from a lake about 3 metres deep or less; the basin is endorheic, so water leaves by evaporation. European Space Agency
6 of 6 questions (what, who, where, when, why, how) have an answer on record

What happened

The record, in order.

NASA's Earth Observatory published Landsat 8 images of Lake Poopó taken on 12 April 2013 and 15 January 2016 under the title "Bolivia’s Lake Poopó Disappears" (23 January 2016). It wrote that "Drought and water-diversion projects have caused Bolivia’s second-largest lake to dry up", that "News reports blame recurrent drought and the diversion of the lake’s water sources for mining and agriculture", that the lake is typically no more than 3 metres deep and that it last dried up in 1994. A NASA JPL release of 28 April 2017, using Terra images of 14 February 2001 and 6 November 2016, said the lake once covered over 3,000 square kilometres, had "virtually vanished", and that "Water diversions upstream, weather extremes and recurrent droughts are thought to blame". The European Space Agency, as reported by EFE on 9 February 2016, said Proba-V images of 27 April 2014, 20 July 2015 and 22 January 2016 confirmed the lake's complete evaporation; the EFE wire gave 1944 as the previous drying, against 1994 in NASA's text.

Before the drying, a mass die-off of fish and aquatic birds was recorded on the lake's shore on 18 November 2014. eju.tv reported that more than 1,780 fishing families were affected and that the Ministry of Environment attributed the deaths to climate change, the Sedag director offered a hypothesis of hurricane-force winds, community members and the NGO CENDA pointed to mining contamination, and the Gobernación of Oruro said contamination existed but that it was not certain it was the cause. In December 2015 Bolivian officials described the lake as dry after an overflight. BBC Mundo reported the lake reduced to three wetlands of under 1 km² and about 30 cm of depth, about 200 species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles and plants lost or departed according to experts, and about 350 families, mostly fishers, affected. Correo del Sur reported that Oruro's governor, Víctor Hugo Vásquez, said "No es tiempo de buscar culpables", and that the government's estimate of the water remaining (30%, by vice-minister Carlos Ortuño) differed from that of Limbert Sánchez of the NGO CEPA (4%). EFE reported that the government of Oruro approved a natural-disaster declaration for the lake in December 2015 and that the national government estimated 800 million bolivianos were needed to save it.

Each source states causes in its own terms. Vice-minister Ortuño attributed the main cause to climate change ("Este es el mejor ejemplo de las consecuencias del cambio climático") and BBC Mundo reported the government citing El Niño and global warming first and water availability second, including a 1990s regulation plan that favoured Titicaca levels and kept water from reaching Poopó via the Desaguadero river. Sánchez named water deficit, mining pollution and sedimentation, and put the Desaguadero's share of inflow at 90%. Mongabay Latam listed sedimentation, mining and erosion, diversion of tributaries, climate change and El Niño. A peer-reviewed study in Remote Sensing (Satgé and nine co-authors, 1 March 2017) tracked the lake from 1990 to 2015 and found that the droughts of 1994 and 1995 coincided with negative rainfall anomalies while the 2015 drought coincided with a positive one, that rainfall alone did not explain the loss, and that regional evapotranspiration rose 12.8% between 2000 and 2014, concentrated over the main agricultural areas, which the authors identify as a major factor. The authors note that field data in the region are scarce.

The lake refilled in part after rains. In January 2017 Governor Vásquez reported 703 km² of surface, a third of the pre-drought area, while Milton Pérez of the Universidad Técnica de Oruro (UTO) said the recovery fell short of expectations; on 12 February 2017 President Evo Morales wrote that the lake was drying again to the east and west. In February 2018 Vásquez reported more than 1,300 km² after an overflight. Fishers told Univision that water had returned but fish had not. Correo del Sur reported on 19 October 2023, citing the Gobernación's water resources director, that Poopó was completely dry, that 30 municipalities had been declared in emergency and that more than 700 communities were affected. An ESA image from April 2024 shows a saline lake covering approximately 1000 sq km; El Deber reported on 30 September 2025 a satellite-based 586.8 km² for August 2024 and 1,449.6 km² for August 2025, and Gobernación officials cited diversion of the Desaguadero, climate change and evaporation as obstacles to recovery.

The Uru Murato, Uru-Chipaya and Aymara communities around the lake fished it. Mongabay Latam reported that they lost their fishing livelihoods and that many families migrated for work. An authority of the Uru de Puñaca community said in 2021, as reported by AIDA, "The lake does not exist now." In October 2023 eju.tv reported that about 25 families still lived in the Uru Murato Puñaca Tinta María community, that the food they had taken from the lakes (fishing, bird hunting, totora reeds) was gone, and that the community was developing tourism, crafts and salt production. A Ramsar Convention Secretariat expert mission to Lakes Uru Uru and Poopó was announced for 11–15 October 2021 at the Bolivian government's formal request; its report is not in the sources reviewed.

  1. 1994Lake last dried before 2015, per NASA (an EFE wire gives 1944)
  2. 2002Lake Poopó (with Lake Uru Uru) designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention
  3. 2014Mass die-off of fish and aquatic birds on the shore (18 November); more than 1,780 fishing families reported affected; Oruro departmental assembly approves an emergency law for the lake
  4. 2015Lake reported dry after an overflight (December); Oruro government approves a natural-disaster declaration; plan announcements follow
  5. 2016NASA publishes Landsat images of 12 April 2013 and 15 January 2016 (23 January); ESA confirms complete evaporation from Proba-V images (reported 9 February)
  6. 2017Rains refill part of the lake: 703 km² reported by the governor (January); Morales says it is drying again (12 February)
  7. 2018Governor reports more than 1,300 km² after an overflight (22 February)
  8. 2021Ramsar Secretariat expert mission to Uru Uru and Poopó announced for 11–15 October
  9. 2023Gobernación de Oruro reports Poopó completely dry; 30 municipalities in emergency (19 October)
  10. 2024ESA image of April 2024 shows a lake of approximately 1000 sq km (published 10 May)
  11. 2025El Deber reports 1,449.6 km² in August 2025 against 586.8 km² in August 2024 (30 September)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

“Drought and water-diversion projects have caused Bolivia’s second-largest lake to dry up.”

“Water diversions upstream, weather extremes and recurrent droughts are thought to blame.”

“Este es el mejor ejemplo de las consecuencias del cambio climático”

Carlos Ortuño, vice-minister of Water Resources and Irrigation · 19 December 2015 · original in Spanish · Correo del Sur

“No es tiempo de buscar culpables”

Víctor Hugo Vásquez, governor of Oruro · 19 December 2015 · original in Spanish · Correo del Sur

“Tenemos un lago que ha desaparecido, ahora es una pampa”

Valerio Rojas, farm leader (as reported by BBC Mundo) · 23 December 2015 · original in Spanish · El Mostrador / BBC Mundo

“Bolivia es víctima del calentamiento global, con sequía y sin lluvia en el altiplano andino”

Evo Morales, president of Bolivia · 12 February 2017 · original in Spanish · Los Tiempos

“The lake does not exist now.”

“hoy en día se ha secado y por los cambios climáticos también, la contaminación minera.”

Erasmo Zuna, communal mayor of the Uru Murato Puñaca Tinta María community · 17 October 2023 · original in Spanish · eju.tv

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Main cause of the 2015 drying
Government and regulators
Vice-minister Carlos Ortuño and the Bolivian government (2015)

Climate change and El Niño as the main cause; water availability second, including a 1990s regulation plan that kept water from reaching Poopó via the Desaguadero; the river is also affected by agriculture, industry and mining.

El Mostrador / BBC Mundo
Researchers
Satgé et al., Remote Sensing (2017)

Rainfall alone does not explain the 2015 loss, since the drought coincided with a positive rainfall anomaly; regional evapotranspiration rose 12.8% between 2000 and 2014, concentrated over the main agricultural areas, identified as a major factor.

Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (Satgé et al.)
International bodies
NASA Earth Observatory and NASA JPL

Drought and water-diversion projects; news reports blame recurrent drought and the diversion of water sources for mining and agriculture; upstream diversions, weather extremes and recurrent droughts are thought to blame.

NASA Earth Observatory
Communities and civil society
Limbert Sánchez, CEPA Oruro (2015)

Water deficit, mining pollution and sedimentation as the main factors; the Desaguadero supplies 90% of the lake's water.

Correo del Sur
Year of the lake's previous drying
International bodies
NASA Earth Observatory (2016)

The lake last dried up in 1994.

NASA Earth Observatory
Press and investigations
EFE wire reporting ESA (2016)

The previous drying was in 1944.

elDiario.es / Agencia EFE
Government and regulators
Vice-minister Carlos Ortuño (2015)

The drying occurs cyclically since 1986, as Correo del Sur reports.

Correo del Sur
How much water remained in December 2015
Government and regulators
Vice-minister Carlos Ortuño

About 30% of the water remained; the lake lost 60% of its water in three months.

Correo del Sur
Communities and civil society
Limbert Sánchez, CEPA Oruro

About 4% remained.

Correo del Sur
How much of the lake returned after the 2017 rains
Government and regulators
Governor Víctor Hugo Vásquez (January 2017)

703 km², a third of the area before the drying; refill expected in three or four years.

elDiario.es / Agencia EFE
Researchers
Milton Pérez, Universidad Técnica de Oruro (January 2017)

The recovery falls short of expectations and rainfall was below what a La Niña year should bring.

elDiario.es / Agencia EFE
Government and regulators
President Evo Morales (12 February 2017)

The lake was drying again to the east and west.

Los Tiempos
Number of families affected
Press and investigations
BBC Mundo (2015)

About 350 families, mostly fishers.

El Mostrador / BBC Mundo
Press and investigations
Correo del Sur (2015)

"un par de centenares de familias" in one passage and "decenas de familias" in another.

Correo del Sur
Press and investigations
eju.tv (December 2014)

More than 1,780 fishing families affected by the November 2014 die-off.

eju.tv

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The loss described as the consequence of drought and El Niño, with global warming attributed by the government to industrialised countries.
    Bolivian government (vice-minister Carlos Ortuño), as reported by BBC Mundo · El Mostrador / BBC Mundo
  • The drying described as caused by "recurrent drought and the diversion of the lake’s water sources for mining and agriculture" according to news reports.
    NASA Earth Observatory, citing news reports · NASA Earth Observatory
  • The 2017 refill described as a lake with "703 kilómetros cuadrados" of surface, a third of the earlier area.
    Governor of Oruro, as reported by EFE · elDiario.es / Agencia EFE

Recorded

  • NASA images show water in April 2013 and a dried lake bed in January 2016; NASA and ESA describe the lake as dried or evaporated.
    NASA Earth Observatory
  • Satgé et al. (2017) record that the 2015 drought coincided with a positive rainfall anomaly and that evapotranspiration rose 12.8% between 2000 and 2014, concentrated over the main agricultural areas.
    Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (Satgé et al.)
  • Surface figures after the drying: 703 km² (January 2017, governor), more than 1,300 km² (February 2018, governor), completely dry (October 2023, Gobernación), approximately 1000 sq km (April 2024, ESA image), 586.8 km² (August 2024) and 1,449.6 km² (August 2025) in a satellite-based map reported by El Deber.
    El Deber
  • No source reviewed gives the volume of water diverted from the Desaguadero or any tributary for named users, or the output of those users.

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: BOB · Window: 2015–2016. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • Gobernación de Oruro (2015–2025): Governor Vásquez said in December 2015 "No es tiempo de buscar culpables" and admitted that the lake receives waste pumped by the San José mine; in January 2017 reported 703 km² of surface and in February 2018 more than 1,300 km²; in October 2023 reported the lake completely dry; in 2025 its officials cited diversion of the Desaguadero, climate change and evaporation. · Correo del Sur
  • Ministry of Environment and Water of Bolivia (2014–2015): Confirmed the loss of unique species without an exact figure (BBC Mundo); attributed the November 2014 die-off to climate change (eju.tv). · El Mostrador / BBC Mundo
  • President Evo Morales (12 February 2017): Wrote on 12 February 2017 that Bolivia is a victim of global warming, with drought and no rain on the Andean highlands, and that the lake was drying again. · Los Tiempos
  • Mining operators in the basin: No statement on the lake's drying from mining companies or cooperatives is recorded in the sources reviewed.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Lake extent before the drying
2,337 km² (BBC Mundo, Correo del Sur)
Other sources give over 2,300 km², over 3,000 km² or over 2,000 km²
Lake in December 2015
Three wetlands of under 1 km², about 30 cm deep
BBC Mundo, 23 December 2015; about 200 species lost or departed according to experts
Surface after refilling, January 2017
703 km²
Governor of Oruro, as reported by EFE
Lake in October 2023
Completely dry
Gobernación de Oruro water resources director; Uru Uru about 10 km²
Surface in August 2025
1,449.6 km²
Satellite-based map reported by El Deber; 586.8 km² in August 2024

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
No court caseDisplacement reported

Nature

  • Disputed Main cause of the 2015 drying
  • Disputed Year of the lake's previous drying
  • Disputed How much water remained in December 2015
  • Disputed How much of the lake returned after the 2017 rains

Court

Accounts

Record

  • None on record None on record: the text of the December 2015 disaster declaration. EFE says the government of Oruro approved it; Los Tiempos says the Gobernación de Oruro declared it; the sources reviewed do not reproduce the act.
  • None on record None on record: the volume of water diverted from the Desaguadero or its tributaries, the users and their output. NASA reports that news blame diversion "for mining and agriculture"; Satgé et al. measure evapotranspiration over agricultural areas, not diversions.
  • None on record None on record: the number of fishing families affected by the 2015 drying on one agreed basis. BBC Mundo reports about 350 families; Correo del Sur reports "un par de centenares" and elsewhere "decenas de familias"; eju.tv reported more than 1,780 fishing families affected by the November 2014 die-off.
  • None on record None on record: compensation paid to fishing families. The December 2015 plan announcement included US$3.25 million, mainly humanitarian aid and technical studies, as BBC Mundo reported; no payment record to families is on record.
  • None on record None on record: the report of the Ramsar Secretariat expert mission planned for October 2021.
  • Disputed Disputed: the main cause of the drying (see disputes).
  • Disputed Disputed: the year of the previous drying (1994 in NASA; 1944 in an EFE wire; droughts in 1994 and 1995 in Satgé et al.).
  • Disputed Disputed: the lake's normal extent (2,337 km², over 2,300 km², over 3,000 km², over 2,000 km², an average of 3,200 km² in a 2018 article).
  • Unclear Unclear: the 2024 and 2025 figures. An ESA image of April 2024 gives approximately 1000 sq km; El Deber gives 586.8 km² for August 2024 on a satellite map of unstated method; Correo del Sur reported the lake completely dry in October 2023.
  • Not measured Not measured: fish and bird populations after the refill. Univision's reporting quotes fishers saying fish had not returned; no census is on record.

Did the harm stop?

Not stopped by the sources' account: the lake was reported completely dry in October 2023 after partial refills in 2017–2018, and Gobernación officials in 2025 cited diversion of the Desaguadero, climate change and evaporation as obstacles to recovery.

Who paid?

The sources reviewed show the loss borne by fishing and herding families, Uru Murato, Uru-Chipaya and Aymara communities who lost fishing and migrated; the December 2015 announcement included US$3.25 million, mainly humanitarian aid and technical studies (BBC Mundo). No source records a payer of the harm or a compensation payment to the families.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

Government and regulators

  1. Bolivia’s Lake Poopó Disappears
    NASA Earth Observatory · 2016-01-23
  2. PIA21546: Lake Poopo, Bolivia
    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · 2017-04-28
  3. Earth from Space: Bolivian salt lakes
    European Space Agency · 2024-05-10

Press and investigations

  2. La tragedia del Poopó
    Correo del Sur · 2015-12-19
  9. Lago Poopó está totalmente seco
    Correo del Sur · 2023-10-19

Communities and civil society

  1. International technical assistance is consolidated to recover Uru Uru and Poopó lakes
    AIDA (Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense) · 2021-09-15

Researchers

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Groundwater
Water held underground in soil and rock, drawn through wells.
Hectare (ha)
A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres, about 2.5 acres. 100 hectares make one square kilometre.
Wetland
Land that is saturated or covered with water for long periods, such as marshes, swamps and peat bogs.
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