© CONANPMetzabok Lagoon by Mexico’s National Commission for Protected Nature Areas
"Saturday night it appeared completely dry, but a week ago the community was monitoring it to take care of the species," said Armando Valenzuela, inhabitant of the area.
Some 150 residents collected fish and transferred them to other lakes, although some were used for family consumption.
Residents reported the phenomenon through photographs and videos posted on social networks.
There is nothing left in what used to be a large expanse of water and a place for tourism.
The main lake of the Tzibaná community maintains a good water level in order to continue carrying out the eco-tourism activities of which the village lives.
Metzabok was decreed in 1998 as a natural area for the protection of flora and fauna to contribute to the exploitation and conservation of the natural resources of the area, with an area of 3,368 hectares.
Considered a sacred site of Mayan culture, Metzabok is also part of UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
According to official information, Metzabok's lakes are fed by several streams, including those from the Usumacinta River, one of the largest in the country.
The Metzabok lagoon system is a set of 21 bodies of water in the Lacandon jungle in Chiapas, one of the lakes of that system dried completely and so far the causes are unknown.
Comment: The National Water Commission of Mexico considers that most of the Lacandon jungle is in a "moderate" drought situation, but some areas whose waters usually feed the lagoons suffer from a "severe to extreme" drought according to El Periodico de Mexico, which may be a factor.
See also: Lakes and rivers mysteriously disappearing increase around the world