Rivers feeding into Lake Naivasha dry up due to long drought

The situation has been worsened by the illegal abstraction of water by farmers leading to a fallout between communities living upstream and downstream. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Over 80 per cent of streams and tributaries flowing into Lake Naivasha have dried up due to the dry spell.

The move has seen water levels in the lake drop sharply with fears that the situation could get worse in the coming days.

The situation has been worsened by the illegal abstraction of water by farmers leading to a fallout between communities living upstream and downstream.

According to data from the Lake Naivasha Water Resource Users Association (LANAWRUA), of the 13 tributaries flowing in River Malewa only three had water.

Enock Kiminta, the association chair noted that the drought had played a big part in the drop in water levels in the tributaries.

He termed the situation worrying, mainly for flower farmers and fishermen around Lake Naivasha where the levels had also dropped sharply.

"Climate change is real as we have seen most of the streams that flow into River Malewa dry up due to human activity and the dry spell," he said.

Kiminta said that water levels in the lake had dropped from 1890.06m above sea level last month to 1889m due to the drought.

He noted that currently, River Malewa was the only one flowing into the lake as Rivers Gilgil and Karati had dried up due to the harsh weather conditions.

"Lake Naivasha relies heavily on water from River Malewa and currently the levels are low due to low rainfall and abstraction by farmers upstream," he said.

Kiminta noted that if unchecked, the abstraction could in the coming days adversely affect water levels in Lake Naivasha and the massive investment in the flower and vegetable farms.

He blamed the illegal abstraction and failure to enforce the law and said that government agencies mandated to undertake this have financial challenges.