Lake Turkana ecosystem: Development for ecology?

The 290 kilometre long and 32km wide Lake Turkana is the world’s largest desert lake.

It has 12 inflowing rivers (all seasonal except the Omo in Ethiopia that accounts for 90 per cent of all inflows) and no outlets.

The two main seasonal rivers are the Turkwel and Kerio in Kenya.

With a volume of 203.6 cubic kilometres, an inflow of 19 cubic kilometres per year is required to keep the lake levels steady.

Lake Turkana has about 48 fish species, three of which — tilapia, Nile perch and catfish — make the core of the lake’s fisheries with a potential of up to 30,000 tonnes per year.

The lake’s location in a fragile environment makes it particularly prone to climate change.

A more immediate threat though is the latest dam on the lake’s permanent inflow, the Gibe III.

Electric power generation is the main expected output.

According to the World Bank, Ethiopia’s main sources of electricity in 2006 were oil and hydropower, catering for 0.3 per cent and 99.7 per cent respectively.

Kenya’s were similar, but catering for 30.5 per cent and 50.6 per cent.

Per capita electricity consumption for 2006 was 38kWh and 145kWh for Ethiopia and Kenya respectively.

The two countries need affordable electricity now, if they are to develop their economies.

But development must sustainably benefit all stakeholders, especially the local communities living in ecosystems exploited for power generation.

No lessons learnt

One would hope lessons learnt from past projects in the Turkana ecosystem would point to better crafted development initiatives this time round.