The presence of the depression helped establish the Toshka New Valley Project, made possible by the Sheikh Zayed Canal, which starts from the Mubarak pump station to raise water from the creek of Lake Nasser to the canal, and whose aim is to develop the southern valley area.

"Toshi" is the name of the stump plant, a type of medicinal herb that grows in the valley, and "ki" means "the place", "the house", or "the homeland" in the Nubian dialect of the region.

[7] In the year 1889, a famous battle took place in the Toshka region between the British campaign and the army of the Mahdist State.

Madhist revolutionaries marched from Sudan under the leadership of Abd al-Rahman al-Nujumi, proclaiming that they were ridding the Nile Valley of the corruption of the Turkish and British rulers, spread the Madhist faith to Egypt,[8] and to free Ahmed Orabi from prison.

As a precaution against any unexpected rise in Lake Nasser's water level, a spillway and channel were built in 1978.

[10] Excess water started being released from Lake Nasser by overflow into a hollow at the south end of the Eocene limestone plateau.

The levels of the lakes as of 2006[update] are lower than in 2001, and areas of wetlands and sand dunes have formed between the former and present shorelines.

[13][7] By 2006, Lake Toshka's water levels began to decline rapidly, exposing large areas of dry land.

By June 2012, water filled only the lowest parts of the main western and eastern basins, covering a surface area of 307 square kilometers, an 80% decrease compared to 2002.

The central basin is almost completely devoid of water and the rest of the lakes had mostly dried up due to low flow in the river.

The Nile-sourced water creates the lakes and helps to recharge the underlying aquifer; however, desert temperatures cause very high levels of evaporation.

Use of Nile resources is governed by the Nile Basin Initiative; however, the Toshka project does not breach the agreement as water is diverted from Lake Nasser only after heavy water flows upstream have raised lake levels above 178 metres (584 ft).