The term ARAL is a reference to the Aral SEA, a large lake located in Central Asia. The lake has been shrinking since the 1960s due to the diversion of its feeder rivers for irrigation and other uses. The crossword solutions for ARAL are DARYA (5 letters), SEA (3 letters), and LAKES (5 letters). Darya is the name of one of the two rivers that fed the Aral SEA before it began to shrink. SEA is an abbreviation for the Aral SEA, and LAKES is a plural form of lake, referring to the Aral SEA and the many smaller lakes that have formed as the Aral SEA has shrunk.