the increase in populations around the lagoon is one of the main contributors to the dramatic changes to the ecosystems within it, as they brought with them a rapid increase in pollution, however, it was the building of the canal de camboatá, during the 1940s that is attributed with having the greatest effect on the lagoon.

built to minimize the risk of flooding in the region, the canal links the lagoa de itaipú to the lagoa de piratininga, and during its construction it was neccessary to empty the lagoa, which in turn had terrible consequences for the ecosystems in and around the lagoon.