New study says rising lake levels cost country Sh4bn

The rising lake waters in the Rift Valley and Victoria Basin cost the country Sh4 billion, a new study shows.

A technical team formed to investigate the impact of the geographical changes yesterday said many tourist centres got submerged, leading to loss of thousands of jobs.

“From health, education, energy, water, agriculture, environment to infrastructure, the damage was felt everywhere,” Mr Jackson Kinyanjui, a member of the task force and founder of Climate Change Awareness Kenya — an environmental conservation organisation — said. 

“Hotels, restaurants, lodges, camps, schools, hospitals and homesteads were submerged by the rising waters in Rift Valley lakes. It was an ecological disaster.”

Lake Baringo destroyed establishments in the mainland, including top-class hotels, lodges and tented camps.

Most of the affected establishments were on lake shores while others were on islands. 

Soi Safari Lodge manager, Peter Chebii, said the 200-bed hotel lost more than Sh50 million. 

“The lake swallowed a large part of the lodge. Soi was a top tourist destination in Baringo county,” he said.

Island Camp, Lake Baringo Club and Robert’s Camp were also submerged. 

Sheries Island, Tumbili Cliff Lodge, Dr Richard Leakey’s Snake Park and Lake Baringo Reptile Park suffered immense damage.

Socio-economic impacts

According to the report, 75,987 households were affected, leading to a humanitarian crisis. 

The government had to provide food, shelter, health services and clean drinking water to the affected families.

The task force conducted the study from October 2020 to May this year. 

Its mandate was to establish the causes of the flood and its socio-economic impacts. It also recommended interventions.

Wild animals were not spared either as the loss of grazing fields drove them to grounds where families had sought refuge.

“The main reason for the rising water level is climate change. Evidence for this is provided by the amount of rainfall in catchment areas as documented in gauging stations,” the report says.

According to Mr Kinyanjui and his team, changes in land use have led to increased runoff, which causes larger volumes of water to flow directly and rapidly into the lakes.

“The increased flow of fresh water into some lakes has created instability in the already fragile ecology, affecting the resilience and distribution of certain species. In some catchment areas, severe landslides occur regularly,” the report says.

The region consists of discrete rift basins, which are mechanically linked by zones of oblique faulting. 

The lakes are a creation of the formation of the Great Eastern Africa Rift Valley during the geological period.

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