Lake Turkana ecosystem: Development for ecology?

These are the 500,000 people downstream of the Gibe III on the Ethiopia part, and 300,000 in the Lake Turkana area of Kenya — communities who will live with any likely impacts of the $2.1 billion project.

It is estimated that the filling of the Gibe III reservoir will likely take two or more years, cutting the Omo inflow by 50 per cent and reducing the lake level by seven to 10 metres.

In all the three Omo dams, there have been no above-board feasibility studies.

For instance, construction has been awarded to Salini of Italy, in a no-bid manner against laid down procurement procedures.

In a way, the contracts somehow exempt the company from geological risks.

The Italian Development Co-operation (IDC) provided funding for both the Gibe I and Gibe II in violation of Italian law that requires both a feasibility study and the required environmental permits.

Financiers

The IDC together with the African Development Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank, and JP Morgan Chase are possible financiers of Gibe III.

In 2009, the African Resources Working Group gave a damning report on Gibe III, predicting devastating impacts downstream.

They also cited the loss of cultivation in the seasonally flooded Omo Delta, loss of riverine forests and wetlands the length of the Omo River, the site location on an earthquake fault line, possibility of landslides from the clay rich soils, and possible resource use conflicts and destabilisation in the disputed Ilemi triangle in the Omo Delta region.

The lower Omo valley is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and has two national parks. There are three parks in the lake too.

The alkaline Turkana waters are potable but not palatable.

Increased alkalinity will not only affect humans — but it is also not known what the effects on biodiversity will be.

Though the Gibe III will impact 800,000 people, the only “voice” championing the cause for conservation from the region is Friends of Lake Turkana in Kenya.

The Ministries of Water, and the Development of Northern Kenya and Arid Lands are yet to issue official positions on the matter.