[2] The area used to be a swamp and it was turned into a lake in the 1920s, in order to supply with water the Small Hydroelectric Station of Agia (Greek: Μικρός Υδροηλεκτρικός Σταθμός Αγυιάς, ΜΥΗΣ).

[5] In Lake Agia 130 plant species can be found, with a large part of its bank being covered by reedbeds, while willows and plane trees are forming a riparian woodland.

Some examples are the Baillon's crake, the purple heron, the ferruginous duck, the Eleonora's falcon, the sedge warbler as well as the European turtle dove,[9] a species that is threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List.

[8] A large population of Cretan frogs also inhabited the lake in the past but they have been almost completely dislocated since introduction of the American bullfrog to the ecosystem.

The American bullfrogs of Lake Agia are the descendants of some individuals that where released in 2000 by a businessman from Chania who bred them in captivity for the production of frog legs.