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Writer's pictureOkanya Daniel

Lake Naivasha In Jeopardy

Introduction

In the far North West of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, lies the outspoken Lake Naivasha in Nakuru County. Naivasha comes from the Maasai rendering 'Nai'posha' meaning 'rough waters. ' It is the second largest freshwater lake in Kenya lying on the floor of the Great Rift Valley being fed by the Malewa and Gilgil rivers. It is widely known that freshwater lakes have inlets and outlets, but Lake Naivasha's outlet is not visible. However, the lake still maintains its freshwater status, assuming it has an underground flow. Therefore, a lot of fishing activity takes place on the lake. It is a natural habitat for strong populations of hippos and flamingos. There are over 1,400 hippos in the area and you are guaranteed to see one. It is a birder's paradise inhabiting over 400 bird species.


With this in play, it has arguably become one of the most visited time and again tourist attraction sites. This region experiences an Equatorial climate therefore conventional rainfall due to the high rate of evaporation of the surface water. Various human activities take place in and around the lake such as fishing, tourism, and horticulture (floriculture) and the locals also use it for domestic purposes. As it stands, Kenya is the third flower world exporter and the flowers are bred in greenhouses, which are dependent on water from the lake for large-scale irrigation.



The root problem facing Lake Naivasha.


The base problem facing Lake Naivasha is the large number of flower farms that surround it. Floriculture farms are located around Lake Naivasha, and they use a lot of water. This causes the lake to shrink at an alarming rate, up to 10 feet in some cases! It has, therefore, brought about an unbearable drought in the area since 2013.


The main source of pollution to the lake is agrochemicals that are applied to the surrounding farms. The heavy use of agrochemicals leads to the pollution of surface water and groundwater resources. This is because the chemicals are not biodegradable, which means that they remain in the soil for a long time after application and eventually find their way into the lake. Owing to this, the different species of fish in Lake Naivasha have been found to have high levels of heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium in them. These elements are very toxic and can cause serious health problems if consumed by humans or animals.


A myriad of problems only arises from this cycle. Residents such as fishermen and fishmongers remain in an unenviable situation because they have no other source of income. They continue to use the lake water for fishing and selling fish, which is dangerous to their health. Even though there are many initiatives taken by the government and other concerned bodies to save the lake from further degradation, these efforts have not been very effective. The government has taken measures like banning all types of effluent discharge into Lake Naivasha as well as building wastewater treatment plants around the lake. However, these measures have not helped much in controlling pollution levels in the lake.



Naivasha is currently used as an area for tourism by local communities and visitors alike. However, it has become evident that there are many negative impacts on both people and animals living around this lake due to pollution from tourist activities such as swimming or fishing (TNC). During our annual student trip to Lake Naivasha in December of 2021, I observed that some of the dykes erected to prevent the lake from overflowing were damaged. This must have been conceivably caused by the heavy rainfall. The increased flow of water would cause erosion of the soil leading to the erosion of these dykes. The boatman who was riding us could not reach some sections, warning us that some of the restricted ones had owners who wanted nobody coming near their property. It definitely meant that we were not supposed to be there, but again, what happened to the rule of the Riparian Reserve?



Was it just me or that rule was simply violated by people, the so-called 'big fish'? I decided to do some digging on that matter to understand why the riparian reserve rule was not being followed. I found out that the reserve rule had been created by the colonialists who wanted to protect these lakes from human use. At the time, there were no boats or any other way of transportation in this area and they did not want people using them for their own personal gain. Even today, it still stands and is enforced by environmental authorities only that some people have their way.

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