Role of the Aral Sea then vs now

The lake was once the world's fourth largest. The Aral Sea, mainly fed by snowmelt and precipitation from far away mountains in a mainly arid region in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was the support of large fishing communities and a tempered oasis.

The Aral Sea was used to become a big export. In an attempt to grow cotton, melons, rice, and cereals the river Amu Darya in the south and the Syr Darya in the east, were diverted from feeding Aral Sea to irrigate the desert.