One of the reasons for this reduction in size was a long drought and the other was the draining of the shallow northern section of the basin, which is currently cut off by an embankment created for the national highway.

[1] Pseudobithynia ambrakis, a species of Bithyniidae (snails) that has only been found in lake Amvrakia.

The lake's waters are polluted, although not alarmingly, by the runoff from the tobacco plantations lying to eastern and southern regions of the drainage basin.

The lake's east coast is cultivated heavily, the fields reaching almost to the shore.

The uncultivated areas on the lake's shore are used as pastures for cattle.