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For years, Lake Baringo has been known for tourism and fish trade, which earns Baringo County over Sh5 billion in revenue annually.

However, this could soon be lost due to water pollution and hyacinth that are rapidly choking the fresh water lake.

Fish production at the world-famous lake has dropped from 482 tonnes in 2023 to 192 tonnes last year.

A fish trader at Kampi Samaki, Esther Talaa, says the scarcity of fish is worrying.

“I have been in this business for more than 20 years but it is now going down due to shortage of fish at Lake Baringo. We used to buy tilapia at Sh50 but it is now selling at Sh150 which is costly for us,” she said, adding that she used to earn more than Sh50,000 but it has now reduced to a meagre Sh5,000.

“We used to have more than 30 traders doing the business but most of them have quit,” said Talaa.

Another trader, Zipporah Chelimo, said she quit the business because of the high costs.

According to Baringo County Director for Fisheries Dickson Ongwae, the shortage of fish is due to water pollution, climate change and water hyacinth that is spreading quickly from the southern part of the lake.

Blocks sunlight

Ongwae said the water hyacinth is doubling its mass every month.

“The water hyacinth restricts water flow, blocks sunlight from reaching native water plants and depletes the oxygen in the water which often chokes aquatic animals like fish,” said Ongwae.

The director said that efforts by the county government to remove the weed manually has not borne fruit. The weed invaded the lake in 2016.

According to the official, if urgent interventions are not put in place, the lake will not be accessible to boats. This would kill tourism and the fish business altogether.

Hotels also like Soi Safari Lodge and Roberts Camp will be forced to close business since they depend on the lake.

The Sh5 billion revenue generated from the lake will be lost. “The weed is spreading fast and unless a remedy is found soon, those who depend on it for survival, including fishermen and fish traders, will be condemned to poverty,” added Ongwae.

He said he had also received reports that some flower farms upstream were discharging chemicals into the lake, adding that this was interfering with the breeding of some fish species.

A spot check by People Daily revealed that at several points where tributaries flow into the lake, the inversive water hyacinth is soaking up water and choking the shoreline.

Three counties from the North Rift region have signed a climate change governance cooperation pact which will see the conservation of the Kerio River ecosystem.

The project dubbed the Community Resilience in Kerio River Ecosystem (CORKE) is aimed at mitigating the increasing vulnerabilities to climate change by pastoralists and crop farming in Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot counties through conservation of the environment.

The Kerio River Ecosystem pact funded by UKAid will ensure that the member counties work towards adopting harmonised laws and joint climate action projects aimed at mitigating and reversing the effects of climate change.

According to Noreb Interim chair Stephen Sang, the agreement will ensure the region has sustainable climate that will enable the communities living along Kerio Valley live harmoniously.

He said last year the region was severely affected by drought caused by effects of destruction of the environment.

“Ploughing along the river, destroying the wetlands, charcoal burning and wanton cutting down of trees along Kerio Valley have led to adverse effects of climate change. The agreement is a beginning of the realisation of counties and communities to take care of their environment,” said Sang.

He appealed to locals to avoid encroaching on water bodies and cultivating upstream, saying it affects water sources.

“If we have to prosper as Noreb, then we have no option but to conserve the environment. The pact is a community involvement to make sure that the agreement becomes successful.

“We have to engage every community living along Kerio Valley to realise that it is important to conserve the rich resources we have in the region,” he added.

He said the region is a fertile ground for horticulture production if the environment can be conserved to ensure that there is enough water for irrigation and for domestic use.

Fertile ground

Sang noted that as an economic bloc they are working together to ensure that environment conservation is at the forefront.

“We want every citizen in the North Rift region to plant trees and conserve wetlands. The economic bloc also has other programmes like increasing tourism, agriculture, environment conservation and human resource development.

“Noreb has an MoU with Rivatex and all cotton growing counties and this will not be a success if we don’t conserve the environment,” said the governor.

Baringo Governor Benjamin Cheboi said Kerio Valley is endowed with enormous resources that if tapped and utilised well will go a long way in fostering the socio-economic aspect not only of the population living there but of the entire region

“The three counties have signed a pact in collaboration to grow the economy within the Kerio Valley through conservation of the environment. This will also help boost food security through irrigation,” said Mr Cheboi.

His Elgeyo Marakwet counterpart Wisley Rotich said the pact will unite the three counties normally affected by cattle rustling due to scramble for scarce water and pasture.

“We have been experiencing perennial insecurity menace in the three counties normally orchestrated by fight for resources. We have enough resources and if we just protect our environment then we will have enough food and pasture and this will end the perennial insecurity menace,” said Mr Rotich.

He said that the three devolved units will each create laws on conservation of environment, sit down and harmonise their laws.

“We have been fighting charcoal burning in Kerio Valley and this has largely affected the flow of water in the river which dries up half a year. We hope that the treaty will solve the environmental issues in the region,” said the governor

Among the worst hit ecosystems in Kerio Valley is the world-famous Lake Kamnarok Game Reserve, which was once famed for being the largest ecosystem in Africa after Lake Chad with a population of more than 10,000 crocodiles, 400 elephants, 13 species of other mammals and a variety of birds of rare species.

The reserve used to be a major revenue earner for the defunct Baringo County Council with more than Sh10 million being generated annually from the reserve due to thousands local and international tourists who used to tour the reserve.

However, due to rampant human activities, including wanton cutting down of trees for charcoal burning, the once thriving ecosystem is now on its dead bed. The lake is now on the verge of drying up, dealing a blow to the local tourism sector.

The effects of this can be felt openly with human wildlife conflict being rampant in the area as wild animals scramble with humans for dwindling resources.

In March last l year, there was a rare spectacle after three jumbos got stuck for more than six hours at the muddy lake while quenching their thirst at the drying river bed.

It took the intervention of the locals and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) wardens to pull the elephants out of the mud.

Following rampant human encroachment, the lake at Kerio Valley of Baringo North Sub-County, which was gazetted as a reserve in 1983, is now almost bare land.

Protracted tussle

The only sign that the land was once a lake are traces of some aquatic plants including water lilies locally known as “norok”which the lake derives its name from.

The lake is also on its death bed following the invasion of water hyacinth that has choked more than 80 per cent of the lake.

More than 3,000 residents bordering the reserve had been involved in a protracted tussle over the border of the reserve with the defunct Baringo County Council and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), with the local vowing not to move out of the reserve until they are given alternative land.

Seven sub-locations in Baringo North Sub-County, including Muchukwo, Katibel, Keturwo, Konoo, Barwessa, Kaptilomwo and Kuikui, fall inside the reserve.

The situation is not different at Lake Bogoria where the water levels have tremendously reduced in the past three months due to human activities upstream and the long dry spell in the area.

The water levels have dropped by three kilometres threatening the booming tourism sector in the lake which is home to more than one million flamingoes.

According to Lake Bogoria National Reserve Senior Warden James Kimaru, rampant human activities upstream like wanton cutting down of trees for charcoal burning are to blame for the phenomenon.

“Human activities upstream like cultivation and felling of trees have also led to the drying up of rivers which usually feed this lake with fresh water,” Mr Kimaru told People Daily during a tour of the lake.