Once upon a time, there was an enormous inland lake, called the Aral Sea. It was the fourth largest inland body of water in the world, supporting fishing fleets and ferries, and tempering the entire regional climate.

Then, in the 1950s, some bright spark who had failed to complete his geography degree, decided to redirect the rivers feeding the lake, so that more cotton could be produced. The business case ran thus:

BENEFITS: More cotton

DISBENEFITS: Destruction of local climate and ecology; loss of thousands of fishing and ferry jobs; increased local soil salinity (and infertility); regional increase in incidences of respiratory diseases due to dust

The entire region still suffers from this decision, and sadly there does not seem to be any government desire to rectify this.