When the Mingachevir dam was built in the mid 20th century, the water regime in the Mil steppe and Kura-Araz lowland changed.

Other areas were transformed into irrigated agricultural lands used to grow cotton, wheat, lucerne, vegetables and wine.

In 1978, the area of the lake was declared zapovednik thus setting the highest level of protection category allowing only the scientific research.

[3] The ministry supervises the activities in preservation of the flora and fauna in the protected area and guards it against illegal hunting and fishing.

[3] Due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons from Karabakh and Armenia were resettled in many regions of Azerbaijan, a large part of which was concentrated in the Aghjabadi district; some were placed in villages around Ağgöl.

Due to lack of food, this caused an increase in illegal fishing, thus affecting the fauna of the lake.