Every single river flowing into Lake Baringo, the freshwater lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, has been dry for months.

It’s supposed to be the end of the dry season and local residents living in the country’s arid north look to the skies for rain. Instead, wild fires are ravaging the dry lands while women dig in the dry riverbeds in such of water.

It’s a very different scenario from five years ago when the rains were good — so good that major rivers like the Arabel and Pekerra were in full flow and flooded Lake Baringo and its caustic cousin Lake Bogoria. By 2014, it was anticipated that the two lakes would merge. In the dry season, the two lakes are 25 kilometres apart.

READ: Tale of two lakes: Are Baringo and Bogoria likely to merge?

Since the rivers that drain into the lakes have run dry, Lake Baringo’s water level is dropping as with all other lakes in that part of the country.

It is reported that Lake Victoria, the biggest freshwater lake in Africa, dropped a foot in March, while Baringo at its deepest is down to 38 feet from a high of 42 feet between 2010 and 2014.

It’s a double-edged sword for the islanders of ol Kokwa, the lake’s largest island which is populated by the Il Chamus, the Nilotes who are linguistically related to the pastoral Samburu.

When the lake was at its highest level whereas the fish have thrived and catches have been good, nobody saw this coming – the disappearance of the ambach tree, Aeschynomena elaphroxylon, from which the Il Chamus build their unique rafts called Ilkadich in the local lingo. The ambach tree grows in the marshes around the lakeshore.

“The ambach tree is gone because all the marsh land where it grows, was ripped away and became floating islands. There have been no boats built in the past few months,” says Dr Bonnie Dunbar of Island Camp, Lake Baringo.

This is a unique scenario for the Il Chamus. No one has memories of such a “calamity.”

The Il kadich on Lake Baringo is as iconic as the gondola is on the canals of Venice.

We sail to Loruko, the neighbouring village with a population of 300. Despite being one island, the high water level has submerged the low parts, making it look like three islands.

That the lake’s water level is decreasing is clear. The previous year, water had completely submerged the only maternity hospital. Currently the top frame of the doors can be seen.

On the island, goats bleat and scamper around. This part of the island is bare earth from overgrazing by the increasing number of goats and fewer pasture. In contrast, the tiny islet that houses the luxury lodge, Island Camp is green.

By mid-morning, the sun is scorching. Seeking shade under the only tree in the village, the islanders join us for a discussion.

Johnson Lenapunya is a village elder. He, like the other elders, is concerned about the lack of resources on the island. The only hospital is under water. The primary school could do with better facilities.

“We feel marginalised from the development of the country,” he says. To report any offence, the islanders have to sail to the mainland. They could as well have a state of their own.

To add to the woes of the poverty-stricken island, the last seven months have been challenging. Without their Il kadich to sail, the island’s fishermen have to hire boats from the mainland.

Fishing is the mainstay of the island. Raymond Lenangole, an elder has been fishing for as long as he can remember. Despite the high water-level, the recent decrease is causing concern.

“Since October last year, it’s like the dry season where the water turns turbid and the tilapia catch declines because there’s not enough food for the fish,” he says.

Nevertheless, for now the fish catch is good. Francis Lekae steps off the motor-boat and pays Ksh200 to the boat captain. The fishermen operate in teams of two and hire the boat for five hours on the lake.

It’s been a good morning for him because he’s caught forty fish – a mix of tilapia and cat fish. He’s sold the rest on mainland – each fish at Ksh 10 which means a sale of Ksh400, clear exploitation for the fish is sold at more than twice the price in urban centres.

The fishermen say that a freezing plant would help to store their fish instead of selling them immediately. It would give them some bargaining power.

“This is the only lake we have and we want to leave it for future generations,” states Lenapunya. But with almost no research on the lake, its fortunes are left to fate. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the good times, the energy plant on the mainland has a think water pipe sucking water out of the lake.