Rose willows struggle to survive along the edge of Aibi Lake, the largest saltwater lake in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Strong wind and salt marshes near the lake make it one of the four sources of sandstorms in China. Wang Kuiping / for China Daily

Wild ducks enjoy a comfortable summer in Aibi Lake. A wetland reserve was set up to try to save the lake. Provided to China Daily

Xinjiang's picturesque lakes are gradually vanishing and may soon be lost as humans make their presence felt, Shao Wei reports from Urumqi.

Restaurateurs around Chaiwopu Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Urumqi, are in a bit of a pickle. They are losing one of their primary sources of fish, the lake itself.

"The 'big-plate fish' had been one of our specialties," said Ma Xiaohui, owner for 14 years of a small lakeside restaurant. "But the lake has dried up sharply in recent years. Now there are hardly any fish to buy."

Ma said that she actually sees Chaiwopu Lake die slowly every day.

As the water level falls the marshes at its edge turn dry and cattle and sheep no longer graze picturesquely near there.

"The lake used to provide wonderful entertainment," she said. But there's more at stake than beautiful views and fish supplies.

About 3.1 million people live in Urumqi, and "the lake supplies 220,000 cubic meters of water to Urumqi residents every day. The increasing water consumption greatly exceeds the water fed to the lake," said Hu Yongqi, director of the Chaiwopu Lake managerial department in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Hu has witnessed the changes at the lake during his tenure there. Twenty years ago, the lake covered 30 square kilometers, with an average depth of 4.2 meters, he said. By last year, it had shrunk by nearly 10 sq km and was a mere 50 cm deep at the center.

Moreover, the shoreline has receded 20 meters, and 350 sq km of marshes around the lake have disappeared.

"The lake's ecological system has been severely damaged," Hu said. "With no effective protective measures, the lake will disappear soon. Maybe in 2013, or 2015. Who knows? But it won't be a happy ending for any of us."

Another Lop Nur?

About 500 km away, a wilderness of white, saline-alkali land stretches from the edge of the tracks at Bole railway station, in northern Xinjiang's Bortala Mongolian autonomous prefecture. In the middle of the white lies Aibi Lake, Xinjiang's largest saltwater lake.

"It's not a good time to see the lake, as snow covers both lake and the land into white," train attendant Wang Lihong said. "Come here in summer, and you will see the beautiful lake and even swans from your train seat."

But Wang pointed at the distinct track of the lake's recession and said, "The lake turns smaller and is farther away from the rails."

Gao Xiang, director of the managerial administration of Aibi Lake Wetland Nature Reserve, said the lake is disappearing "at a drastic pace"- about 38 sq km a year. Desertification has claimed more than 1,500 sq km in recent years, reducing the lake area to 530 sq km.

"Now the lake has only one-third of its original size. Some experts predict it will become the second Lop Nur in the near future. I agree," he said. Lop Nur, between the Taklimakan and Kuruktag deserts in southeastern Xinjiang, disappeared 40 years ago.

"But what makes it more worrisome is that the dwindling of Aibi Lake will bring more damage to us than the Lop Nur," Gao said. It has become "a direct threat to the sustainable, economic development of northern Xinjiang".

Raging sandstorms

Aibi Lake is situated in the lowest land of Junggar Basin and lies on the leeward side of Alataw Mountain Pass, where gales blow about 180 days a year. Strong gales and exposed salt marshes in the lake area make Aibi one of the four sources of sandstorms in China.

"The salt dust from the dried lake is frequently whipped up into sandstorms and will be blown to more than 5,000 km away from here," Gao said.

According to the Xinjiang Environmental Protection Bureau, some 4.8 million tons of sand are blown from the Aibi salt marshes every year. The route of National Highway 312, which runs adjacent to the lake, has been altered in places because part of the original road was buried by sand.

The Euro-Asia Continental Railway Bridge suspended operation on several occasions for the same reason. Sandstorms have brought damaging effects to northern Xinjiang and even to the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

"Aibi Lake and its surrounding wetlands are the natural blockade of sandstorms for the plants, crops and people of all northern China. Its drying up will create a domino effect on people's lives and environment," ecologist Hai Ying said.

Hai proposed in the late 1990s that a nature reserve be established to protect Aibi Lake and its wetlands. The reserve was set up at the provincial level in 2000 and at State level by 2007. But the lake's dwindling means that a 1,500-sq-km water surface has been transformed into a new desert belt, Hai said.

The salt dust, which is more easily blown into the air than sand dust, has accelerated the melting of glaciers in Bortala Mongolian autonomous prefecture, Gao said. In the 1960s, he said, there were 13 sandstorm days each year on average. Now there are 110.

"We just live beside Aibi Lake," Jinghe county resident Li Hongmin said. "When the wind blows, it rains a yellow-white-colored powder. We locals always mask ourselves when going out."

The numbers of wild plants and migratory birds in the Aibi reserve also are shrinking.

"Without water into the marsh, fewer birds are coming," said Xu Wei, who works at the reserve's bird island managerial station. "I saw 15 pelicans in 2010, but more marshes turned into dry earth in 2011, and no more pelicans came."

No way out?

"I've been working at the reserve since it was established in 2000," Gao said. "We've tried our best to slow its pace of shrinking. But, sadly, the lake is doomed to dry up. There are lots of reasons - climate change, the growing population and the expansion of farmland."

He listed various measures that local governments have adopted to protect the lake. Nearby farms have widely used spray and drip irrigation since the early 1990s, instead of flooding between the crop rows, to guarantee that more river water would be fed into the lake.

But these measures are "far from enough to satisfy the thirsty lake", Gao said.

"Water shortage is the bottleneck to solving the lake's ecological problems. There were seven rivers that fed into the lake in the past. Only two of them are left, and their runoffs are reduced greatly. Kuytun River, which previously supplied 45.8 percent of Aibi Lake water, dried up in the 1970s.

"Expanded farmland, though adopting water-saving irrigation techniques, cries for water," Gao said. "Farmers even sleep on river dikes in busy farm seasons" to keep other farmers from diverting water to their own land.

"We find no way to ask them to water the salt lake rather than their crops. Usually, only in wintertime can river water have a chance to run down to the lake," Gao said.

Hu from Chaiwopu Lake found the same reason for the disappearing lake - the expanding farmlands.

"In 2003, a water transfer project that planned to recharge 10 million cubic meters of water from snowy mountains was carried out to save the shrinking Chaiwopu Lake. But after the project completion," Hu said, "I sadly found that the transferred water just covered the bottom of the canal. The water had almost all been used by farms along the way."

"The primary cause of the shrinking and disappearing lakes in Xinjiang is human destruction," ecologist Hai said. "The lakes are getting compromised for economic benefits in one way or other. And there is no way out if cities and farmland continue to expand, and not only for lakes."

Write the reporter at shaowei@chinadaily.com.cn.