Lake overturns or carbon dioxide (CO2) eruption from deep within its waters, locally called as langal, normally occur during the months of December to February.

[10] Suggested etymologies for the name tadlac include a kind of "wild ginger"[11] and a grass closely related to sugarcane.

[12] Documenting field expeditions he conducted during his time with the International Rice Research Institute, agricultural scientist and journalist Thomas Hargrove noted tadlak was the Tagalog term for a kind of wild ginger which he described as “pulpy with a red bulb.”[11] Alternatively, historian Zeus A. Salazar has suggested that the name tadlac may refer to a local variety of sugarcane which he theorized to be common in Laguna and Batangas before the propagation of modern sugarcane,[12]: "359–362"  based on linguistic similarities with the local name of Themeda arundinacea in Central Luzon,[13] which in turn was the origin for the name of the city and eventually its province.

Starting from 1986, the LLDA authorized the use of 30,000 square metres (320,000 sq ft) or about 12% of its total surface the lake for tilapia fish cage aquaculture to help the local fishermen earn a living.

Starting around the same time, the hill on the northern edge of the lake was quarried by its private owner and sold as building material for home construction.

The destruction continued unopposed by the lax management of LLDA, and the local government of Los Baños recognized the activity as the right of the landowner to develop his property.

In the end, about 7,000–8,000 m2 (75,000–86,000 sq ft) of earth & rocks were removed and the land was leveled leaving a “cut” on the crater rim, destroying the natural look of the lake.

The owner of the quarried land had donated a 4-metre (13 ft) wide right-of-way trail on his property allowing easy access to the lake.