UN REPORT OUTLINES ALARMING DROP INLAKE VICTORIA WATER LEVELS

January 1st, 2009

Environmental Report by Leo Odera Omolo.

LAKE Victoria is among African water bodies drying up due to environmental degradation and climate changes, a new survey has revealed.

According to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the loss of trees and wetlands, which forms the Lake Victoria water catchment, was partly affected by human activities and 13 per cent is severely  degraded” says the report.

The study notes that Lake Victoria water levels started dropping considerably in the year 2002.

As a result, the shorelines retreated by more than 100 metres and there has been no improvement six years later.

Rapid population growth, leading to over exploitation of resources, poses a major threats to Africa’s lakes and most of them  fresh water reservoirs, the report points out.

It adds that in recent decades, the rate of population growth, estimated at seven per cent within  100 kilometers around the Lake Victoria catchment area, had out paced the continental average, reflecting growing dependence and pressure on lake’s resources.

 “ Population growth around the continent’s largest lake is significantly higher than the rest of Africa” notes the report, adding that lakes are sources of livelihoods for many people.

If they are managed properly, the African continent’s lakes face loss of sustainability for future generations, warns the report.

Another body that the report cites as endangered is Lake Chad, which it said has shrunk by 95 per cent in the last 35 years due to climatic effects and human activities.

On the way forward, the report recommends a joint effort in managing the lakes by countries and called for better monitoring  of human activities.

According to Tema Daily online, Kenya Medical Research Institute ( KEMRI) that has monitored the lake says there is a growing health hazard posed by both human waste  and other pollutants. 100 per cent of the car washers are schistosomiasis infected, says Kemri’s expert.

According to UN Environment programme in the 2006 study of East Africa’s lakes, untreated sewerage flows into the lake daily from towns around it.

The lake and 30 million people who depends on it in East  Africa face a bleak future  as pollutants cause a number of deadly diseases.

Schiotomiasis, bilharzias, cholera, pneumonia and diarrhea are among the diseases that affect residents around te lake with increasing frequency, health officials in Kisumu city says.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com