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Türkiye's water data and water law, in one place

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Türkiye's water

Are our lakes shrinking?

Short answer

Water surface of 7 lakes, 1984–2021: 5 lakes shrank, 2 grew or did not change (JRC satellite archive).

Shrank most: Akşehir Gölü (92.3%, 1984→2021).

Only the difference between two measured years; no projection. Area = permanent + seasonal water surface within the year (JRC satellite archive).

Details

The yearly water surface of 7 lakes (Tuz, Burdur, Marmara, Van, Eğirdir, Beyşehir, Akşehir) was counted from the JRC Global Surface Water satellite archive (Landsat, 1984–2021): the difference between the first and last measured year, a yearly chart and a before/after image. No score, no ranking, no forecast.

For each lake: a before/after image, a yearly area chart and the difference between the first and last measured year. Years without observations (in most lakes 1988–1997, a gap in the Landsat archive) are left blank in the chart; no number is produced for them.

Tuz Gölü lake page (Turkish)

grew by 9.9% (1984→2021, measured years) 897 km² → 986 km²

Tuz Gölü water surface in 1984, JRC Global Surface WaterTuz Gölü water surface in 2021, JRC Global Surface Water
Left 1984, right 2021. Dark blue permanent water, light blue seasonal water, grey no observation; water outside the lake mask is faded. Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, accessed 25 October 2026.
km²05001,0001,5002,000198519901995200020052010201520201984: 897 km²1985: 318 km²1986: 968 km²1987: 998 km²1990: 1,018 km²1998: 983 km²1999: 802 km²2000: 1,011 km²2001: 712 km²2002: 986 km²2003: 992 km²2004: 730 km²2005: 851 km²2006: 956 km²2007: 813 km²2008: 971 km²2009: 1,014 km²2010: 989 km²2011: 1,010 km²2012: 1,029 km²2013: 1,010 km²2014: 1,021 km²2015: 1,040 km²2016: 985 km²2017: 1,038 km²2018: 1,040 km²2019: 1,039 km²2020: 1,044 km²2021: 986 km²

Permanent water 1984: 92 km² → 2021: 23 km²; seasonal water 1984: 805 km² → 2021: 963 km². Lake mask 1,063 km² (combined water surface 1984–2021). No observation (9 years): 1988–1989, 1991–1997 — blank in the chart.

Latest satellite image (9 October 2026): water surface within the lake mask 213 km². A single-day image, not the same measure as the yearly total; scene cloud share 2.1%. Source: Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (AWS Earth Search STAC), Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, Yearly Water Classification History (EC JRC/Google), CC BY 4.0 · accessed 25 October 2026 · data (JSON)

Burdur Gölü

shrank by 30.1% (1984→2021, measured years) 195 km² → 136 km²

Burdur Gölü water surface in 1984, JRC Global Surface WaterBurdur Gölü water surface in 2021, JRC Global Surface Water
Left 1984, right 2021. Dark blue permanent water, light blue seasonal water, grey no observation; water outside the lake mask is faded. Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, accessed 25 October 2026.
km²0100200300400198519901995200020052010201520201984: 195 km²1986: 192 km²1987: 193 km²1995: 167 km²1998: 161 km²1999: 162 km²2000: 159 km²2001: 156 km²2002: 155 km²2003: 158 km²2004: 160 km²2005: 159 km²2006: 155 km²2007: 154 km²2008: 148 km²2009: 146 km²2010: 149 km²2011: 144 km²2012: 142 km²2013: 142 km²2014: 141 km²2015: 143 km²2016: 136 km²2017: 138 km²2018: 134 km²2019: 130 km²2020: 127 km²2021: 136 km²

Permanent water 1984: 190 km² → 2021: 122 km²; seasonal water 1984: 5 km² → 2021: 14 km². Lake mask 195 km² (combined water surface 1984–2021). No observation (10 years): 1985, 1988–1994, 1996–1997 — blank in the chart.

Latest satellite image (10 October 2026): water surface within the lake mask 115 km². A single-day image, not the same measure as the yearly total; scene cloud share 0.1%. Source: Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (AWS Earth Search STAC), Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, Yearly Water Classification History (EC JRC/Google), CC BY 4.0 · accessed 25 October 2026 · data (JSON)

Marmara Gölü

shrank by 54.1% (1984→2021, measured years) 60 km² → 27 km²

Marmara Gölü water surface in 1984, JRC Global Surface WaterMarmara Gölü water surface in 2021, JRC Global Surface Water
Left 1984, right 2021. Dark blue permanent water, light blue seasonal water, grey no observation; water outside the lake mask is faded. Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, accessed 25 October 2026.
km²020406080198519901995200020052010201520201984: 60 km²1986: 55 km²1987: 62 km²1995: 33 km²1999: 53 km²2000: 60 km²2001: 56 km²2002: 58 km²2003: 62 km²2004: 61 km²2005: 58 km²2006: 58 km²2007: 51 km²2008: 38 km²2009: 55 km²2010: 55 km²2011: 59 km²2012: 62 km²2013: 62 km²2014: 57 km²2015: 63 km²2016: 63 km²2017: 53 km²2018: 46 km²2019: 52 km²2020: 38 km²2021: 27 km²

Permanent water 1984: 50 km² → 2021: 2 km²; seasonal water 1984: 10 km² → 2021: 25 km². Lake mask 64 km² (combined water surface 1984–2021). No observation (11 years): 1985, 1988–1994, 1996–1998 — blank in the chart.

Latest satellite image (10 October 2026): water surface within the lake mask 4 km². A single-day image, not the same measure as the yearly total; scene cloud share 0.0%. Source: Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (AWS Earth Search STAC), Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, Yearly Water Classification History (EC JRC/Google), CC BY 4.0 · accessed 25 October 2026 · data (JSON)

Van Gölü lake page (Turkish)

grew by 0.4% (1984→2021, measured years) 3,564 km² → 3,577 km²

Van Gölü water surface in 1984, JRC Global Surface WaterVan Gölü water surface in 2021, JRC Global Surface Water
Left 1984, right 2021. Dark blue permanent water, light blue seasonal water, grey no observation; water outside the lake mask is faded. Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, accessed 25 October 2026.
km²01,0002,0003,0004,000198519901995200020052010201520201984: 3,564 km²1986: 3,564 km²1987: 3,568 km²1990: 3,576 km²1998: 3,594 km²1999: 3,593 km²2000: 3,590 km²2001: 3,582 km²2002: 3,580 km²2003: 3,581 km²2004: 3,585 km²2005: 3,588 km²2006: 3,589 km²2007: 3,589 km²2008: 3,584 km²2009: 3,583 km²2010: 3,582 km²2011: 3,583 km²2012: 3,585 km²2013: 3,584 km²2014: 3,583 km²2015: 3,582 km²2016: 3,582 km²2017: 3,583 km²2018: 3,581 km²2019: 3,581 km²2020: 3,579 km²2021: 3,577 km²

Permanent water 1984: 3,561 km² → 2021: 3,566 km²; seasonal water 1984: 3 km² → 2021: 11 km². Lake mask 3,596 km² (combined water surface 1984–2021). No observation (10 years): 1985, 1988–1989, 1991–1997 — blank in the chart.

Latest satellite image (10 October 2026): water surface within the lake mask 3,745 km². A single-day image, not the same measure as the yearly total; scene cloud share 1.7%. Source: Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (AWS Earth Search STAC), Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, Yearly Water Classification History (EC JRC/Google), CC BY 4.0 · accessed 25 October 2026 · data (JSON)

Eğirdir Gölü lake page (Turkish)

shrank by 4.1% (1984→2021, measured years) 471 km² → 452 km²

Eğirdir Gölü water surface in 1984, JRC Global Surface WaterEğirdir Gölü water surface in 2021, JRC Global Surface Water
Left 1984, right 2021. Dark blue permanent water, light blue seasonal water, grey no observation; water outside the lake mask is faded. Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, accessed 25 October 2026.
km²0200400600800198519901995200020052010201520201984: 471 km²1986: 464 km²1987: 471 km²1998: 454 km²1999: 464 km²2000: 466 km²2001: 461 km²2002: 460 km²2003: 462 km²2004: 467 km²2005: 463 km²2006: 458 km²2007: 462 km²2008: 458 km²2009: 456 km²2010: 458 km²2011: 459 km²2012: 461 km²2013: 462 km²2014: 461 km²2015: 464 km²2016: 465 km²2017: 461 km²2018: 458 km²2019: 456 km²2020: 455 km²2021: 452 km²

Permanent water 1984: 455 km² → 2021: 444 km²; seasonal water 1984: 16 km² → 2021: 8 km². Lake mask 471 km² (combined water surface 1984–2021). No observation (11 years): 1985, 1988–1997 — blank in the chart.

Latest satellite image (9 October 2026): water surface within the lake mask 349 km². A single-day image, not the same measure as the yearly total; scene cloud share 1.4%. Source: Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (AWS Earth Search STAC), Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, Yearly Water Classification History (EC JRC/Google), CC BY 4.0 · accessed 25 October 2026 · data (JSON)

Beyşehir Gölü lake page (Turkish)

shrank by 5.5% (1984→2021, measured years) 683 km² → 646 km²

Beyşehir Gölü water surface in 1984, JRC Global Surface WaterBeyşehir Gölü water surface in 2021, JRC Global Surface Water
Left 1984, right 2021. Dark blue permanent water, light blue seasonal water, grey no observation; water outside the lake mask is faded. Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, accessed 25 October 2026.
km²0200400600800198519901995200020052010201520201984: 683 km²1985: 592 km²1986: 665 km²1987: 672 km²1990: 594 km²1998: 634 km²1999: 659 km²2000: 644 km²2001: 629 km²2002: 647 km²2003: 646 km²2004: 653 km²2005: 639 km²2006: 632 km²2007: 636 km²2008: 635 km²2009: 642 km²2010: 658 km²2011: 660 km²2012: 682 km²2013: 685 km²2014: 669 km²2015: 667 km²2016: 658 km²2017: 657 km²2018: 650 km²2019: 653 km²2020: 654 km²2021: 646 km²

Permanent water 1984: 633 km² → 2021: 622 km²; seasonal water 1984: 50 km² → 2021: 24 km². Lake mask 691 km² (combined water surface 1984–2021). No observation (9 years): 1988–1989, 1991–1997 — blank in the chart.

Latest satellite image (19 October 2026): water surface within the lake mask 606 km². A single-day image, not the same measure as the yearly total; scene cloud share 0.9%. Source: Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (AWS Earth Search STAC), Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, Yearly Water Classification History (EC JRC/Google), CC BY 4.0 · accessed 25 October 2026 · data (JSON)

Akşehir Gölü

shrank by 92.3% (1984→2021, measured years) 338 km² → 26 km²

Akşehir Gölü water surface in 1984, JRC Global Surface WaterAkşehir Gölü water surface in 2021, JRC Global Surface Water
Left 1984, right 2021. Dark blue permanent water, light blue seasonal water, grey no observation; water outside the lake mask is faded. Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, accessed 25 October 2026.
km²0100200300400198519901995200020052010201520201984: 338 km²1986: 286 km²1987: 322 km²1998: 223 km²1999: 210 km²2000: 222 km²2001: 176 km²2002: 208 km²2003: 213 km²2004: 204 km²2005: 163 km²2006: 119 km²2007: 123 km²2008: 97 km²2009: 142 km²2010: 139 km²2011: 127 km²2012: 128 km²2013: 124 km²2014: 40 km²2015: 162 km²2016: 107 km²2017: 100 km²2018: 94 km²2019: 98 km²2020: 108 km²2021: 26 km²

Permanent water 1984: 260 km² → 2021: 0 km²; seasonal water 1984: 79 km² → 2021: 26 km². Lake mask 339 km² (combined water surface 1984–2021). No observation (11 years): 1985, 1988–1997 — blank in the chart.

Latest satellite image (9 October 2026): water surface within the lake mask 28 km². A single-day image, not the same measure as the yearly total; scene cloud share 0.2%. Source: Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (AWS Earth Search STAC), Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Source: JRC Global Surface Water v1.4, Yearly Water Classification History (EC JRC/Google), CC BY 4.0 · accessed 25 October 2026 · data (JSON)

Detailed datamethod, limits, year-by-year table, licence

Method

A fixed geographic box for each lake; only this window is read from the JRC yearly classification tiles (GDAL /vsicurl/, no full tile download). Lake mask: the 8-connected component of the combined 1984–2021 water surface (class 2 or 3) that contains the lake's centre point; neighbouring lakes and other water in the box lie outside the mask. Yearly area = area of permanent (3) + seasonal (2) water pixels within the mask; pixel area by latitude with a spherical approximation (R = 6371.0088 km). A year whose share of unobserved (0) pixels within the mask exceeds 20% is labelled "no data"; the first and last year are the first and last year without that label. The percentage difference is only the difference between these two measured years; there is no projection.

Pixel: 0.00025° × 0.00025° (about 28 m × 22 m at this latitude; the JRC product is 30 m Landsat based). Classes: 0 no observation, 1 not water, 2 seasonal water, 3 permanent water (JRC user guide v2024.5, "Yearly History"). In the JEODPP tiles, pixels that never showed water in 1984–2021 carry the value 0 (class 1 occurs only within the combined water surface; verified in the boxes of the 7 lakes). The share of no-observation pixels is therefore computed only within the lake mask.

Limits

Seasonal water reflects the widest extent within the year; permanent and seasonal are given separately. Landsat observation frequency is low in the early years; cloud and observation gaps raise the no-data share. Because the mask is fixed, exceptional water outside the mask (floods) is not counted. Water surface touching the box edge may be cut off.

Latest Sentinel-2 measurement

Son N gün içinde bulut oranı eşiğin altındaki Sentinel-2 L2A sahneleri STAC ile aranır; aynı güne ait sahnelerin kapsama alanı göl kutusunu tam örtüyorsa o gün adaydır, en az bulutlu gün seçilir. B03 ve B08 bantlarından yalnız kutu penceresi okunur (0,0002°); NDWI > 0 (yeşil > yakın kızılötesi) su sayılır; SCL sınıfları 0, 1, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11 geçersizdir. Alan, JRC göl maskesi içinde piksel alanlarının toplamıdır. Tek günlük görüntüdür; JRC yıllık (kalıcı + mevsimsel) toplamıyla aynı ölçü değildir. Göl maskesi içinde geçersiz (bulut/gölge/kar) piksel oranı %20'yi aşan ölçüm uyarılı gösterilir; sığ ve tuzlu yüzeylerde NDWI su/kuru ayrımı belirsiz olabilir.

Accessed 3 November 2026; Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026.

Water surface year by year (km², permanent + seasonal)

Water surface year by year (km², permanent + seasonal)
YearTuzBurdurMarmaraVanEğirdirBeyşehirAkşehir
1984897195603,564471683338
1985318no observationno observationno observationno observation592no observation
1986968192553,564464665286
1987998193623,568471672322
1988no observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observation
1989no observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observation
19901,018no observationno observation3,576no observation594no observation
1991no observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observation
1992no observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observation
1993no observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observation
1994no observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observation
1995no observation16733no observationno observationno observationno observation
1996no observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observation
1997no observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observationno observation
1998983161no observation3,594454634223
1999802162533,593464659210
20001,011159603,590466644222
2001712156563,582461629176
2002986155583,580460647208
2003992158623,581462646213
2004730160613,585467653204
2005851159583,588463639163
2006956155583,589458632119
2007813154513,589462636123
2008971148383,58445863597
20091,014146553,583456642142
2010989149553,582458658139
20111,010144593,583459660127
20121,029142623,585461682128
20131,010142623,584462685124
20141,021141573,58346166940
20151,040143633,582464667162
2016985136633,582465658107
20171,038138533,583461657100
20181,040134463,58145865094
20191,039130523,58145665398
20201,044127383,579455654108
2021986136273,57745264626

Source and licence

EC JRC/Google — Global Surface Water Explorer, Yearly Water Classification History v1.4 (1984–2021) — download page, tile directory. Licence statement (verbatim): Any copyright and/or sui generis right on the dataset is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Reuse is allowed provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated. (https://jeodpp.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ftp/jrc-opendata/GSWE/copyright.txt, (c) European Union, 1995-2021) Citation: Jean-Francois Pekel, Andrew Cottam, Noel Gorelick, Alan S. Belward, High-resolution mapping of global surface water and its long-term changes. Nature 540, 418-422 (2016). doi:10.1038/nature20584. Map credit: Source: EC JRC/Google.

Derived figures and images on this page: /veri/gol-alan.json (CC BY 4.0; source licence separate).

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