Diverting water to irrigate massive cotton farmland in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan caused the The Aral Sea, once the 4th largest freshwater lake in the world, to dry up to a tenth of its original size with devastating consequences.
Water from the two rivers feeding the lake were diverted to provide irrigation for the farming of cotton and other crops.
Nobody thought that it would dry up, that it would lead to an ecological catastrophe.
The once prospering fishing industry collapsed with devastating effects for the local communities.
Over the years the lake became polluted with pesticides and fertilisers, and the blowing salt and minerals from the exposed lakebed became a public health hazard with increased respiratory diseases and cancers.