Origins of the lake are connected to Araz and Kura rivers as well as rivers originating in Karabakh Plateau. The water flowing in from Araz enriches the lake with chlorides and has high mineralization. It is argued that throughout the ages, the rivers have flooded the area creating depressions and then refilled them with water. Before the 20th century, Ağgöl was already partially fed by drainage waters from irrigated fields. The volume of water in the lake had fluctuated in the past when it faced being dried out in single years and when it reached very high volumes of water in other years. When the Mingachevir dam was built in the mid 20th century, the water regime in the Mil steppe and Kura-Araz lowland changed. From 1960, the water to the lake inflowed only from saline water collectors built in the region to drain irrigation waters. In the present, the lake is fed by K-2 and K-3 collectors. Some areas around the lake have been used as pasture grounds. Other areas were transformed into irrigated agricultural lands used to grow cotton, wheat, lucerne, vegetables and wine.