Geophysical characteristics

• Lake Turkana is the world's largest permanent desert and alkaline lake with a pH of 8.6–9.5.
• Most of the lake is within Kenya but its basin is shared with Ethiopia and the boundaries of South Sudan and Ethiopia meeting at its northern tip.
• The lake is generally shallow (mean depth 30 m, maximum depth of 109 m).
• There are three rivers flowing into the lake (Omo from Ethiopia and Turkwel and Kerio from Kenya) but 90% of water comes from the Omo river that enters the northern edge of the lake from Ethiopia
• The lake lies in a closed basin without an outflow but during the early Holocene, the lake level was 60–80 m higher than at present and it had an outflow to the White Nile.
• Early hominid fossils that have been found in the Turkana regional making it archaeologically important.

Demographic characteristics

• The area around Lake Turkana in Kenya is sparsely populated, with a population density of 5-25 persons per km2. However, the lake basin in Ethiopia has a much higher population density of up to 25-250 persons per km2 and the population density in the upper reaches of the Omo River is even higher up to 500 persons per km2.
• Residents of the Lake Turkana basin are amongst the poorest in Kenya with 94% living in poverty.
• An estimated 94% of the population around the lake live below the poverty line with up to 50% in some areas relying on food aid.
• Majority of the population lack clean water and proper sanitation facilities.

Fishes and fisheries

• Fish is a major sources of high quality animal protein for riparian communities
• The lake has about 60 fish species, 12 of them endemic.
• The annual fishery yield is about 9,500 tons supporting about 8100 fishermen.
• The fishery is dominated by Nile perch, Nile tilapia, and Labeo horie.

The lake habitat

• Lake Turkana is polymictic and well mixed at all depths with oxygen levels of >5 mgl-1 over the entire water column most of the time.
• The phytoplankton community is dominated by the blue-green algae
• The water balance of the lake is highly sensitive due unreliable rainfall which is likely to intensify with increasing variability and change in climate change.
• An aquatic weed, Prosopis juliflora that was introduced to green the lake has become invasive and there is some limited water hyacinth cover in the Omo delta.

Basin factors

• Agro-pastoralism is a major livelihood activity.
• There are three hydropower dams along the Omo river and irrigation schemes for agriculture in the Omo valley. Lake Turkana gets 90% its water from the Omo river and it has been estimated that its level could drop by as much as 20 meters due to dam operations.
• Oil resources in the western shores of the lake are a potential environmental threat that needs to be addressed
• The lake is an Important Bird Area supporting over 350 native and migratory bird species and the world’s largest remaining population of the Nile crocodile.
• There are oil and gas reserves in the southern shore, Ruzizi basin border of Burundi and DRC, along the northeastern shore of the lake.
• The lake has three national Parks (Sibiloi, Central and Southern Islands), with >350 species of aquatic and terrestrial birds and the world's largest population of Nile crocodiles and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Governance

Interventions

• The efforts to development a wildlife and fisheries management plan should be completed.
• Control human population growth in the Omo valley.
• Monitor and control and spread of invasive Prosopis juliflora.
• Manage the impacts of dams and irrigation schemes along the Omo River on the lake.
• Extract oil in a manner that does not harm aquatic ecosystems.
• Investigate impacts of climate change on the lake and livelihoods, and develop adaptation and mitigation measures.
• Develop regional mechanisms harmonize management actions between Kenya and Ethiopia.