Lake Turkana (in the background). The world's largest desert lake, lies in Kenya's northwest corner, on the border with Ethiopia, and gets 90 percent of its water from the Omo River. FILE
What you need to know:
Dam is being constructed on River Omo, the key source of water for the lake.
Economic activities around Lake Turkana are likely to be affected by the construction of Ethiopia’s Gibe 3 dam.
The government of Ethiopia is putting up the hydro-electric power dam along River Omo, which is a major source of water for Lake Turkana.
“River Omo is the source of water for Lake Turkana, meaning that any human activity along the river will have negative effects on the lake,” said John Malala, a research scientist with Kenya Marines Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) during an interview with the Business Daily.
The scientist noted that 90 per cent of the lake water comes from River Omo while the remaining 10 per cent comes from rivers Kerio and Turkwell.
Lake Turkana, the world’s largest desert lake and Africa’s fourth largest fresh water body, is a source of livelihood for more than 20,000 people and has the potential to generate up to Sh 3 billion a year from fishing.
However, the stocks have been dwindling, with the lake currently generating Sh270 million annually, according to Mr Malala.
He said the lake could be rendered unproductive because of siltation. The lake, which supports more than 48 species of fish, is also a great attraction for tourists with its three national parks — Sibilioi, Central Island and South Island national parks. The parks have been listed by the Unesco as heritage sites.
“The drop in water is likely to affect attractions in the park, reducing revenue,” Mr Malala said.
Human activities along Lake Turkana and its tributaries have already started affecting water levels.
“The lake is producing 4,000 tonnes of fish down from 9,000 tonnes in 1989 owing to human activities along the lake,” says Mr Malala.
This against a potential of 30,000 metric tonnes.
“If the inflow of water is low and evaporation is high, there is a likelihood of the lake becoming salty, affecting aquatic life used to fresh water,” he said.
Also, fish usually need deep water for breeding. The construction of the Gibe dam comes in the wake of a battle between several African countries with Egypt on the Nile water treaty signed in 1929.
Ethiopia and seven other countries through which the Nile River passes have been locked for more than a decade from using the bulk of the Nile water.
Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya signed a new deal to share the waters in May 2010, provoking Egypt to call the move a national security issue.
Egypt and Ethiopia are holding talks to diffuse tensions over Ethiopia’s construction of the $4.2 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Ethiopia has started diverting water for the project from the Nile, which arid Egypt relies on for food production.
