Prior to the 1960s, 108 freshwater rivers emptied into the lake. As of 2003, 85% of the river mouths have dried up, including the lake's largest tributary, the Buha River. In between 1959 and 1982, there had been an annual water level drop of , which was reversed at a rate of between 1983 and 1989, but has continued to drop since. The Chinese Academy of Sciences reported in 1998 the lake was again threatened with loss of surface area due to livestock over-grazing, land reclamations, and natural causes. Surface area decreased 11.7% in the period from 1908 to 2000. During that period, higher lake floor areas were exposed and numerous water bodies separated from the rest of the main lake. In the 1960s, the Gahai Lake (尕海, "Gǎhǎi") appeared in the north; Shadao Lake (沙岛, "Shādǎo"), covering an area of to the northeast, followed in the 1980s, along with Haiyan Lake (海晏, "Hǎiyàn") of . Another daughter lake split off in 2004. In addition, the lake has now split into half a dozen more small lakes at the border. The water surface has shrunk by over the last three decades.