Race on to save Lake Elementaita

Landscape of Lake Elementaita. Until recently, Lake Elementaita in Kenya’s Rift Valley hardly attracted attention; all the news was made by the more famous lakes Naivasha, because of the flower farms, and Nakuru, because of the flamingos and national park around it. Photo/FILE

What you need to know:

  • New hotels and lodges have sprung up on the edges of the lake, some too close posing a threat to the integrity of the lake and what its famous for — its flamingos and pelicans.
  • The birds are very sensitive to environmental change.
  • As a wetland of international importance under Ramsar, the integrity of a wetland is under the custody of the home government.

Until recently, Lake Elementaita in Kenya’s Rift Valley hardly attracted attention; all the news was made by the more famous lakes Naivasha, because of the flower farms, and Nakuru, because of the flamingos and national park around it.

Naivasha, being a freshwater lake, has attracted large-scale flower growers and tourist establishments and with time, the lake has became a drainage basin for the horticulture industry’s spill-off, from pesticides to the sewerage system. Lake Nakuru, on the edge of the industrial Nakuru town with a fast growing population, faces similar problems.

Now, Lake Elementaita, despite its long list of accolades — it was designated as an Important Bird Area in 1999, a Ramsar site in 2005, a national wildlife sanctuary in 2010 and inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2011 by Unesco, together with Lake Nakuru and Lake Bogoria as part of the Kenya Lakes System in the Great Rift Valley — has lately attracted the attention of developers.

THREAT TO LAKE’S INTEGRITY

New hotels and lodges have sprung up on the edges of the lake, some too close posing a threat to the integrity of the lake and what its famous for — its flamingos and pelicans. The birds are very sensitive to environmental change.

As a wetland of international importance under Ramsar, the integrity of a wetland is under the custody of the home government.

At a stakeholders meeting on February 28, attended by the Kenya Wildlife Service, the National Environment Management Authority, Nakuru County representatives including the Environment Secretary, National Museums of Kenya, the Greater Lake Elementaita Conservation Area and private landowners, a major decision was taken: That a moratorium be set up by the National Land Commission on any construction near the lake until the surveyors review the riparian land.

But this decision introduces new problems.

The lake’s water level is now higher than the highest mark noted over the past century, which means that the lake’s boundary and the riparian zone will have to be extended.

Some properties with perfectly valid title deeds will be inside the riparian land — which could mean that a compensation scheme will have to be set up. 

The moratorium will also review the Greater Lake Elementaita Conservation Area management plan to adapt to the lake’s new context as a World Heritage Site, and the new water level. This means that the moratorium will be recognised as a binding agreement for all stakeholders and may have to be gazetted. 

The south side of the lake is famous for its hot springs, which are increasingly threatened by a developer wanting to put up a housing estate.

The springs are popular with holiday makers and the uncontrolled human traffic at the springs is increasingly polluting them. The southern end of the springs at Kekopey is a breeding ground for the tilapia grahami.

This article was first published in the East African .