Experts now caution lake could dry up

By ANTONY GITONGA

NAKURU COUNTY, KENYA: Experts are now warning that Lake Naivasha could in future dry up if the right conservation efforts are not put in place.

Speaking during the ongoing conference in Naivasha, the scientists noted that in the last 800 years the lake had on three occasions dried up completely.

In the ongoing workshop organised by the Imarisha Naivasha Board, stakeholders were warned that it was too early to start celebrating over the current water levels, which are at their highest.

According to Prof Jan Pokorny from Czech Republic, a research done on the lake’s sediment had indicated that it had dried up on three previous occasions.

The professor said between 1900 and 2013, the lake’s levels had fluctuated by a range of 10 metres, a move he attributed to climate change. “The lake has in the last 800 years dried up and we should be careful that we don’t damage the water cycle mainly in the catchment,” he said.

Pokorny said the current high water levels would at one time go down as he expressed concern over the high flow of nutrients into the lake.

“Run-offs lead to over production of algae affecting oxygen levels leading to low fish numbers,” he said.

Lake weed

Robert Becht, an assistant professor from University of Twente in Netherlands, said water aquifers in parts of the lake were on the decline. He said in the last 10 years, water levels in the aquifers had dropped by over 25 metres. “Economic water storage in the ground could be depleted if there was a drought in the next two years,” he said.

The assistant director in the Ministry of Environment David Mutisya said they would use the model used in Lake Victoria in dealing with the lake weed.