• The long periods of rising lake water levels have generated a humanitarian crisis.
• National Security Advisory Committee last year recommended assessment of causes and the socio-economic impacts.
The government needs more than Sh17 billion to fix the challenges faced as a result of the rising lakes.
A revised report titled Rising Water Levels in Kenya’s Rift Valley Lakes, Turkwel Gorge Dam and Lake Victoria says Sh3.1 billion is needed for immediate interventions.
Another Sh233 million is needed for short-term interventions and Sh8.27 million for medium-term interventions.
The National Security Advisory Committee last year recommended the Ministry of Environment constitute a multiagency technical committee to assess the socio-economic impacts and causes of the rising water levels within the Great Rift Valley Lakes, the Turkwel Gorge Dam and Lake Victoria.
The rise in water levels has been witnessed since September 2010, significantly affecting adjacent areas in 2013 and again since 2019 to date.
Six teams visited the lakes and the Turkwel Gorge Dam from October 21 to November 1 to assess the scope of the changes. They were to lakes Turkana, Logipi, Bogoria, Baringo, Nakuru, Elementaita, Solai, Naivasha, Ol Bolossat, Magadi and the Ewaso Ngiro South area, and Victoria.
The teams were tasked to report on the status of the rising water levels and the allied socio-economic impacts with a view to making recommendations on required interventions.
The report also captures the implications of the rising water levels for security, the ecological changes, previous record of changes in the lakes, the catchment area dynamics, the geological setting that control the flows into and out of the lakes, and possible litigation from the affected communities.
The results from the scoping mission reveal a complex interplay of hydro-meteorological factors, land-use change dynamics, as well as the geology and morphological setting of the lakes that have relatively influenced the current phenomenon.
The long periods of rising water levels in these lakes have generated a humanitarian crisis. Some 75,987 households have been displaced in 13 counties, with 379,935 people requiring urgent humanitarian assistance.
The 168-page report says long-term interventions need Sh6.3 billion, bringing the total amount, according to the report, to Sh18 billion.
“The government should set aside a budget for resolving some of the challenges identified in this report. The other partners should also be mobilised to contribute sustainably to managing this challenge. Partners like UNDP and USAID, among others, should support the efforts to coordinate measures to respond to this issue adequately and sustainably,” it reads.
Given the magnitude of the challenge, the government should partner with UNDP and other multilateral and bilateral partners to mobilise the resources required through a multi-donor programme that will seek to resolve the short-, medium- and long-term problems.
The revised report says the government undertakes to follow up on the recommendations in this report through short-, medium- and long-term actions.
The interest of the local communities and the biodiversity within these areas is quite prominent and will drive further interventions and plans by the government at the county and national levels to avert the continued rise and the resultant impacts of this devastating situation.
The reports say the affected communities have endured disruptions to livelihoods and lost assets such as homes, grazing and farming fields to floods.
The rising waters have destroyed social amenities like learning institutions (especially primary and secondary schools), health facilities, markets, fish landing and processing facilities, once-thriving hotels, curio shops, resorts and lodges, electricity lines, water supply and sanitation units (boreholes, shallow wells, sanitation facilities), as well as roads, forcing many to use boat transport to access services across flooded areas.
The major effects include loss of lives and livelihoods, injury, an outbreak of disease, legal issues, safety and security concerns, and ecological or environmental degradation.
The report shows that Sh1.13 billion is needed for the provision of relief and cash assistance to the affected counties. This falls under immediate intervention.
Sh177.7 million is needed for emergency health and hygiene services, while Sh248 million is needed for water, sanitation and irrigation, both under immediate intervention.
Sh148.2 million is needed for the provision of emergency shelter kits, while Sh66 million is needed to support education under immediate intervention.
To support agriculture and food security (irrigation), Sh183.9 million is needed. The support towards wildlife and tourism will need Sh460 million, while fisheries will need Sh428 million. Provision of energy will need Sh228 million.
The short-term measures needed to support agriculture require Sh54 million, while fisheries need Sh84 million.
Securing and protecting riparian land will in the short term need Sh70 million, while the inter-community conflicts need Sh25 million.
In the medium term, the support for education needs Sh209 million, while agriculture will need Sh 2.43 billion.
The medium-term amount for the restoration and conservation of watersheds and catchment areas is Sh2.26 billion, while the support for fisheries will need Sh1,3 billion.
In the short term, drilling and installation of groundwater monitoring boreholes will need Sh116.2 million, while inventorying affected land abutting lakes needs Sh1.86 billion.
In the medium term, Sh75 million is needed for community conflicts.
The long-term support for agriculture will need Sh4.543 billion and fisheries Sh1.1 billion.
The report says Sh440 million is needed in the long term for research on tectonic movements and magmatic stresses, and Sh69 million for the supply of clean and safe water.
In the long term, Sh138 million is needed for water level monitoring and a further Sh31.7 million for supporting irrigation.