In early 2012, drought, sand quarrying, and the practice of storing water at the Three Gorges Dam lowered the area of the lake to about 200 square kilometers (77 sq mi).

Before the Han dynasty, the Yangtze followed a more northerly course through what is now Longgan Lake whilst Pengli Marsh formed the lower reaches of the Gan River.

In January 2020, China imposed a 10-year fishing moratorium on 332 sites along the Yangtze, including Poyang Lake to protect marine biodiversity.

Sand dredging has become a mainstay of local economic development in the last few years, and is an important source of revenue in the region that borders Poyang Lake.

Dredging makes the waters of the lake muddier, and the porpoises cannot see as far as they once could, and have to rely on their highly developed sonar systems to avoid obstacles and look for food.

Scientists, as well as environmental groups such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, have criticized the proposal, arguing that artificially engineering water levels in the lake will adversely affect wildlife diversity.