Why Lake Narasha is on the verge of extinction

As he grazes his cows on the roadside along the busy Nakuru-Eldoret highway, Julius Tanui looks worried as his cows drink dirty water laden with soot. Exhaust systems of vehicles using the highway have carbon in them, and the puddle near the highway takes a little bit of carbon with it.

“I am worried about the sooty water that my cows are drinking. The harmful water can poison and suffocate my cows,” says Tanui. This water finds its way into Lake Narasha, a natural freshwater wetland located between Timboroa and Mumberes in Uasin Gishu County.

“This contamination impacts not just the ecosystem but also the communities that depend on the water from this sources,” says Tanui. This comes at a time experts have raised a red flag over the deteriorating water quality at Lake Narasha.

Sheila Koech, an official at Green Earth Organisation, expressed concerns over the rampant destruction of significant water towers in the North Rift. “Destruction at Lake Narasha due to population pressure and over-exploitation of resources is worrying,” said Ms Koech.

Filtration, cutting trees and motor vehicle pollution are other key factors choking the wetland. “People have cultivated next to the waterbody and all the sediments and chemicals are washed into the water,” explained Ms Koech, adding: “Water has receded by 50 per cent.”

About 60 per cent of the water mass is covered by vegetation attributed to filtration. With less than seven years remaining before the Kenya Vision 2030 timeline expires, Kenneth Mwige, the Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat director general, has called for decisive action to save the wetlands in Kenya.

“We need to join efforts and solve problems using creative and innovative ways,” he stated. The head of Water Resources Management Programme Reuben Ngesa said the government is banking on the planting of 15 billion trees by 2032 and Adopt a Wetland programme to save major water towers countrywide.

“We need to bring everyone on board. Every citizen has an obligation and is qualified to adopt a wetland. Currently, Kenyans have already adopted 10 wetlands,” said Mr Ngesa. Ondiri Swamp in Kiambu County, Gitwe Wetland in Kibiko Forest, DikDik Gardens Wetland in Kileleshwa are among water catchment areas that have been adopted.

According to a UN report, wetlands are critical to human and planet life. Directly or indirectly, they provide almost all of the world’s consumption of freshwater. More than one billion people depend on them for a living and they are among the most biodiverse ecosystems.

Up to 40 percent of the world’s species live and breed in wetlands, although now more than 25 per cent of all wetlands plants and animals are at risk of extinction. Wetlands are a vital source of food, raw materials, genetic resources for medicines and hydropower, and they play an important role in transport, tourism and the cultural and spiritual well-being of people.

The UN report says wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests and are Earth’s most threatened ecosystem. In just 50 years since 1970, 35 per cent of the world’s wetlands have been lost. Human activities that lead to loss of wetlands include drainage and infilling for agriculture and construction, pollution, overfishing and overexploitation of resources, invasive species and climate change.

Studies have attributed challenges derailing wetlands conservation to poor planning, lack of specific laws and policies governing wetland resource use, and excluding local communities in decision-making processes.

“We need urgent interventions to join all laws and policies regarding wetland management and conservation to stop encroachment by humans,” states a study published in the International Journal of Ecosystem.

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