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LAKE TURKANA
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
Programs
The first expedition to the lake was by Cambridge in 1930-31.
There have efforts to development a wildlife and fisheries management plans by Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS), National Museums of Kenya (NMK), and the State Department of Fisheries, Kenya, are initiatives worth fast tracking.
Policies
There are national policies and regulations for development and management of resources of the lake and basin resources.
Institutions
There are national research, management, and community institutions to provide information and data and implement management decisions.
The lake has no regional mechanism to coordinate harmonization of management actions between Kenya and Ethiopia that share the lake basin.
Research and management measures is affected by remoteness of the lake.
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.