A dam with a railway on top was constructed at the narrowest point, thus effectively dividing the lake into two water bodies with different physical, chemical and biological characteristics: a north-western and a south-eastern basin.

Each year large quantities of untreated sewage, industrial waste and a staggering 500,000 tons of sediment are carried into the lake through the Villalobos River.

In the early 1990s under President Jorge Serrano Elias, a deal was made with a German company to use specialized machinery to clean the lake.

However, after complains and legal action from scientists, academia, politicians and environmentalists who questioned the Israeli company contract, then vice president Roxana Baldetti suspended the project on 30 March 2015 and froze both the payment to the company and any decontaminant pouring into the lake.

[7] Furthermore, Baldetti was forced to resign in early May 2015 due to the La Linea corruption case.