The reservoir volume is 32.8 million m3, and was developed for the purpose of recreation in the 1950s when Mohammad Daoud Khan was the Prime Minister.

It has since been a popular picnic location, particularly on the weekends and public holidays when it is visited by a large number of picnickers.

As part of recreation, apart from the lakeside upscale Spojhmai Hotel,[9] there was a nine-hole golf course at the extreme periphery of the reservoir.

The hatchery was established in the 1970s when 30,000 trout fingerlings were produced and then stocked in the reservoir and in many other rivers such as Panjshir, Bamyan, Salang and Sarda.

In 2013, the USAID suspended the project claiming that the local governor failed to pay 1.1 million dollars for the 10% of the costs agreed.

[12] The United States Army Corps of Engineers in their studies for "Potential Renewable Energy Technologies in Northwest Kabul", have examined utilization of the storage of Qargha reservoir and the head created by the dam.

[13] As of 2023, Lake Qargha shrunk to one third of its original size due to climate change and ongoing drought.